Forever Friends
by bluecinderella4
Summary: The longtime friendship of Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray from beginning to end. Based on the movie 'Beaches', title taken from the film's alternate title.
1. Prologue (2019)

**_Beaches_ ****is a movie that I really like and usually regulates to being background noise when I need sound to fill a quiet room and can't actually watch anything. I pretty much know that movie by heart (bonus points to whoever gets that reference) and I wanted to adapt it into a fic somehow, but I was never sure which show to use.**

 **Then I saw** _ **Glee**_ **. I mean, how can Rachel Berry not be the Bette Midler equivalent in this movie? I came up with some ideas, made a coherent outline, and now I'm making it into an AU fic.**

 **So this may not be** **exactly** **like the movie because I have to keep canon with** _ **Glee**_ **; but it does take a lot of the movie's basic plot and moments. For those who haven't seen this movie, you don't really have to watch it, but I recommend you do so you know what you're getting into and have a general idea of what to expect.**

 **I think that's basically all there is to say for now. Let's get into the actual story.**

* * *

 _September, 2019_

"Rachel! Rachel!" A sizable crowd had assembled around the theatre hoping to catch the attention of the approaching Broadway star.

"Hi," Rachel Berry had the biggest smile on her face as she soaked in the adoration. She signed a few autographs, took a few pictures, and gave some vague compliments before being ushered into the theatre for one of the final rehearsals. "Boys," she greeted the chorus dancers waiting onstage in their costumes.

"You're late," the director noted to her. "Don't bother getting into costume; let's just get this rehearsal over with."

Rachel stood center stage. "Ready!"

"Playback!" The music for Rachel's big number began playing and she threw her all into the rehearsal. Her reward for a job well done was everyone applauding. "Great! Keep that up for opening night tomorrow."

"You know it!"

The stage manager made her way over to Rachel. "Rachel, I'm getting a call from a Kurt Hummel. He says it's an emergency."

"Emergency?" Hurrying into the wings, Rachel pulled out her cellphone and called Kurt. "Kurt? Is everything okay?"

 _"You need to get to Lima_ now. _"_

"Why? What's going on?"

 _"This is it."_

Her hands were visibly shaking as she struggled not to drop the phone. "Are you sure? How long ago-"

 _"I don't know. Blaine and I are on our way to the hospital as we speak. I know this is the night before the show opens, but..._ " Kurt couldn't even finish. " _Rachel: you need to get here before it's too late."_

Rachel was trying not to panic. "I'm on my way," she quickly hung up the phone and ran for the stage manager. "I have to go."

The stage manager's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets. "What, _now_? Rachel-"

"Tell the understudy to go on in my place. It's an emergency; I have to get to Ohio. How can I get out of here without being seen by my fans?"

...

"You don't understand," Rachel was arguing with an airline worker, "I have to get to Ohio, _now_!"

"I'm sorry Miss Berry," the agent apologized. "We have no current flights to Ohio because of the weather."

"Is there a private plane, I could-" the agent shook their head. Biting her lip and trying not to cry, Rachel fidgeted a bit before she had an idea. "Where's your rental car service?"

...

" _You mean you're driving all the way from New York to Lima_?" on the other end of Rachel's phone, Mercedes sounded stunned by Rachel's decision.

"There are no flights from JFK or La Guardia because of the weather and I figured it'd be faster if I just drive non stop," Rachel explained as she put in a CD.

" _By yourself_?"

"By myself."

She heard Mercedes blow out a breath. " _I'll pray for you too, girl_."

"How is-"

" _I don't know. They're not letting anyone back there. We want to be there, but we're stuck in the waiting room_. _I don't think they're letting him have his cell phone on_."

"Did you talk to him?"

" _Not yet,_ _I got the message from Kurt. I guess Kurt's doing all the calling_."

"Mercedes..." Rachel sniffled as she shed some tears, "I don't know if I can keep it together. I'm scared."

" _We all are. I'm gonna hang up so you can focus on your driving. Stay safe, Rachel: we love you_ ," Mercedes hung up.

Rachel set the phone aside, wiped away a few tears, and gripped the steering wheel. "Please God," she quietly prayed. "I promise I'll never ask you for anything else again. Just, please...please..." with a free hand, she clasped the necklace around her neck bearing the name of her departed first love. "Send me a sign."

After a brief moment, a song started to play on the radio. Through her tears, Rachel let out a laugh. This was the sign she needed.

" _Look at this stuff, isn't it neat  
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete…"_

As she drove, Rachel's mind wandered to the significance of that particular song in regards to the current situation. God, did it really happen fifteen years ago?

* * *

 **Short prologue, I know; the story's really gonna start in the next chapter. So in case I really did shroud things in mystery—I was deliberately trying to be vague—we'll get things going in chapter 2.**


	2. First Meeting (2004)

**If you were nice enough to stick around, this is the chapter where the 2 leads first meet as kids.**

 **If you struggled with the math: the first chapter's set in 2019 and at the end Rachel thinks back to 15 years ago so this first part is set in 2004—that will be obvious when I center the year at the beginning. According to the show, most of the original Glee club members—the ones who first graduated in 2012—were born in 1994. So in 2004 they'll be 10, and in 2019 they'll be 25.**

 **Like I said, I tried to keep some things canon and the leads' birth year will be one of the things. A lot of other stuff may be altered to fit with the story though.**

 **Moving on…**

* * *

 _August, 2004 (Coney Island)_

Ten year old Rachel Berry was hiding in a photo booth dropping tissues down her shirt when she heard someone crying outside. Sticking her head out of the curtain, she saw the crying was coming from a blonde girl about her age in a high ponytail and dress. "Hi," Rachel startled the girl a little. "Are you okay?"

The girl sniffled. "I'm lost. My mom let me go shopping by myself as long as I met her at the hotel afterwards; but I don't know where it is."

"What's the name of it?"

"I can't remember."

"Okay, I'm gonna guess this is a ritzy hotel with a fountain in front and a bunch of stuffy looking guys in fancy suits playing violins in the lobby."

"Yes!"

"I know where you're talking about. It's where New York's most elite stay when they come to Coney Island—I should know being a member of the elite myself."

"Can you help me back?"

"I guess, I mean I should have some time to kill. What time is it now?"

The blonde girl looked at her watch. "It's almost 1:00."

"WHAT?" Rachel nearly tore the curtain off of the photo booth as she hurried out of it. The blonde girl was surprised to see Rachel in a long green skirt and a purple bra that had obviously been stuffed. "I have to get back to the auditorium."

"Why are you dressed like that"

"I've got a really important audition at one that I have to get to. If you go with me to the audition, I'll walk you back to the hotel."

"How long does an audition take?"

"We have to keep our set under three minutes."

"Am I auditioning too?"

"No, just the kids from _Ricky's Rugrat Revue_." The blonde girl gave her a blank stare. "You've never heard of it, have you?" Blondie shook her head. "It's a local kid's show filmed here at Coney Island hosted by Ricky Murphy where a bunch of kids do a revue." The other girl still looked confused. "It's when kids do a bunch of performance stuff: singing, dancing, comedy skits, talent routines, the works. I don't want to brag, but I am the most popular act on the show; that's why you probably recognized me."

"I didn't recognize you."

"Oh."

"What's the audition?"

"Some talent scout is coming and he's holding auditions for a kid to appear in a new Broadway musical! This could be my big break! I am destined to be on Broadway, you know."

"No, I don't."

"Well I am. I can just see it now: the marquees flashing the name of the show and underneath it'll say, ' _Starring Tony-Award Winner Rachel Berry'_."

"Are you Rachel Berry?"

"Duh."

"Well my name's Quinn, Quinn Fabray."

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're _not_ from New York."

"I'm from Lima."

"Where's that?"

"Ohio."

"What are you doing here?"

"Family vacation. We usually go to our beach house at Lake Erie, but it's being renovated."

"Your family has their own beach house?" Quinn nodded. "Wow, you must be loaded." They came across the auditorium. "I have to go backstage. You wait in the audience, okay."

"Okay," Rachel went off in one direction while Quinn headed into the auditorium.

Rushing backstage, Rachel quickly went to her little makeup table and fixed her hair and makeup. "Ugh," standing nearby was one of her co-stars, "you're not really wearing _that_ are you?"

"If one is going to audition with _The Little Mermaid_ then one was must dress as the little mermaid," Rachel responded back.

"Thank God it's not another Streisand song."

Rachel resisted the urge to get angry. "I have to get ready Jesse, go pick on someone else."

"Those fake boobs can't make up for your lack of talent, Rachel."

She took a deep breath. "You're only saying that because you're jealous that I am far more talented than you will ever be."

"We'll see about that."

"It's your turn Rachel," one of the stage crew informed her.

"Thank you," Rachel politely thanked. Before leaving, she took the tissues out of her bra, and threw them at Jesse. Stepping on the stage, she noticed Ricky Murphy sitting in the front row beside the talent scout and Quinn sitting a few rows back. "Hello. My name is Rachel Berry and for my audition, I will be singing ' _Part of Your World'_ from The _Little Mermaid_."

"Whenever you're ready," one of the men cued her.

Rachel took a deep breath, and then pulled a fork out of her dress' pocket. "I just don't see things the way he does," Rachel was reciting the brief line of the film before the song. "I don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things…could be bad."

" _Look at this stuff, isn't it neat_ _  
_ _Wouldn't you think my collection's complete…"_

Quinn watched from the audience with a smile on her face. _Rachel sings really pretty_. And she had to admit, _Little Mermaid_ was one of her favorite movies. When the number was finished, the men in front stood up to clap, so Quinn did the same, but clapped louder.

"Very good, Rachel," Ricky complimented.

"Thank you," Rachel curtsied before heading into the audience. She shook the scout's hand. "Thank you for the opportunity, Sir."

"If you'll stick around, Mr. Bradley will have his decision after Jesse's audition."

Rachel's face fell. "Jesse St. James is auditioning last?"

"Hello," speak of the devil. Rachel turned to see Jesse on stage in costume. "My name is Jesse St. James and I will be auditioning with Michael Jackson's _Thriller_." With a wave of his finger, the karaoke version of the song began to play. Jesse took on lead vocals all the while doing the famous dance while a stung Rachel watched. When Jesse was done, Rachel gave him the evil eye and the sarcastic slow clap as he went off the stage and shook the scout's hand.

"Psst," Quinn tapped Rachel on the shoulder, "who's he?"

"Jesse St. James," Rachel bitterly replied. "He's one of my costars and the biggest jerk on the planet." She watched as Jesse conversed with the two men, and then a smile broke onto his face and he enthusiastically shook the scout's hand. Rachel knew what that meant. Hurt, she stormed backstage. At her station, she pushed everything to the floor and sobbed.

"Rachel?" Quinn had followed her into the dressing room. "Rachel, what's wrong?"

"Jesse got the job!" She lifted her head from her desk. "It's probably because he can dance and I can't. But it's not like I can't learn! My daddies can pay for lessons! Now he's gonna go off and be a famous Broadway jerk and everyone will love him and-" Rachel let out a frustrated scream and banged her fist against her makeup table. "I HATE HIM!"

"Just because he did a good job here, doesn't mean he'll do a good job in the show. Maybe people will see he's a big jerk and no one will see the show because of him."

Rachel smiled. "Really?"

"And just because he can dance now doesn't mean he can dance when he gets older. He'll probably hurt himself dancing and get fat." Rachel giggled. "Besides," Quinn sat beside Rachel, "I think you're the best singer I ever saw."

"I am?" Quinn nodded. "I mean, I know I am, but it's always nice to have people tell me." Quinn laughed at this. "No, seriously, thank you for that."

"I mean it: you're gonna be a super famous Broadway star and I'm gonna go see every show you do."

"Thank you Quinn," the two hugged before Rachel pulled away. "I guess I should probably get you back to the hotel now?"

"Once I do get back, I might not see you again."

"I guess you're right."

"Wait," Quinn dug through the purse she was carrying, "I got a pen in my purse. Do you have a piece of paper?"

"No," an idea crossed Rachel's mind, "but I know where we can get some paper."

...

"Come on," tugging on Quinn's arm, Rachel led her to the photo booth where they first met. "I'll put in my money, we'll take some pictures, and when they're done they come out in these little paper strips. Once we get our pictures, we can write our addresses and phone numbers on the back."

"Good idea," Quinn followed Rachel into the photo booth where they took a series of friendly snapshots with each other. They rushed out of the booth in excitement for their pictures. "It says it'll be thirty seconds. I can't wait to see them."

"I just hope my hair looks okay."

There was a ding. "They're done!" An eager Quinn took the pictures. Putting one of the strips against the booth, she wrote her contact information and handed the pictures to Rachel. "That's my phone number and address. Ask for me when you call though, it's the home phone number."

"You don't have a cell phone?"

"My parents don't want me to have one until I'm thirteen. They won't even give me my own phone extension."

"Oh," Rachel took Quinn's photoset and wrote her information on the back, "well my daddies let me have my own private extension. They'll probably give me a cell phone when I start middle school." She handed Quinn her photos and the girls began walking toward their intended destination.

"When do you start middle school?"

"Next year; this September I'll be in fifth grade."

"Me too!"

"Did you get Ms. Holliday as a teacher?" Quinn gave her a confused look. "Oh, right, you live in Ohio."

"You make it sound so boring. Ohio's not boring."

"I'm sure it's not. It's just New York is like the center for everything. Everybody wants to come to New York. I don't know anyone who wants to go to Ohio. The only cool thing Ohio has are amusement parks."

"Maybe you should come to Ohio next summer. You could come with us to our beach house."

"I dunno. I know I'll be done with _Ricky's Rugrat Revue_ , but I still do summer stock. Summer's also free time for more singing and acting lessons." Rachel noticed they made it to the hotel. "I guess we're here."

"Guess so."

"Your family's probably inside looking for you."

"Probably."

"Well Quinn," Rachel shook Quinn's hand, "it was really nice meeting you."

"It was really nice meeting you too, Rachel." A beat. "So, I guess this is goodbye?"

"I guess so."

"Will we ever see each other again?"

"I...I don't know."

The sound of a woman calling Quinn "Quinnie" distracted the girls.

"That's my Mom," Quinn told her.

"You should probably go."

"Be sure to keep in touch, Rachel, okay."

"Well sure, we're friends aren't we?"

Quinn's face broke into a wide smile before she gave Rachel a hug. There was no way this was goodbye. Someday, they would see each other again.

* * *

 **But that's the last we'll see of Little Rachel & Little Quinn. Hey, everybody grows up.**

 **So I'm convinced I'm crazy for doing this. If anyone out there disputes or agrees with that claim or wants to leave some feedback, please feel free to.**


	3. Graduation (2012)

**No intro, gonna get into it.**

* * *

 _May, 2012_

Time and people change as life goes on. Plus, thanks to technology: in the span of nearly eight years letter writing had become obsolete, e-mail was mainly used for business and school reminders, everybody had a cell phone, everybody texted on said cell phone, the social media sites had skyrocketed, and face time communication was possible via Skype. And Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray communicated using all these types of methods.

"So," Quinn was instigating a new topic of conversation over Skype, "you're not gonna believe where I sent my latest application."

Rachel scoffed at that, "Try me."

"Yale."

"I do believe it."

"Really?"

"Quinn Fabray, you are totally destined for one of the best Ivy League schools in the world. I'm amazed you haven't seen one in to Harvard yet."

"Harvard's for all the nerds and smart people. Yale's got a drama program I'm interested in. I dunno, maybe I'll go for a minor in teaching. I wouldn't mind having a job around kids."

"How does Finn feel about you going out of state?" Finn was Quinn's quarterback boyfriend. "He told you he was going to a college in Ohio, right?"

"Yeah, but the sweet guy that he is supports me wherever I decide to go. And after what his asshole friend said it makes me want to go all the more?"

"Puck again? What did he say to you this time?"

"He was with Finn when I told him about Yale and then he starts laughing. I ask him what's so funny and he says, 'I got the title of your next crappy chick flick: _Blondie goes to Yale_ '. So I shoved him. I really hope I get in just to spite him."

"Didn't you have a crush on Puck once upon a time?"

"A _long_ time ago. And it was just that, a crush. He beat up a bully who made fun of everyone in middle school and it was kinda hot. That bad boy attitude is gonna get him nowhere in life and God help the poor girl he ends up—and we know it's gonna be some tramp he knocks up. Noah Puckerman is a Lima Loser."

"A Lima Loser you once had that kissing fantasy about when you were thirteen."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Rachel laughed. "It would be nice to talk about guys in your life for once; besides your dads of course."

"I'm too busy focusing on my future career. I'm not ready to pursue any romantic relationships yet, and quite frankly I don't think any boy I know is attracted to me."

"Your perfect match is out there somewhere, Rachel. He'll probably come to you when you least expect it."

"Well, not all of us want the perfect, quarterback boyfriend. High school relationships never last anyway."

"We'll see."

"Getting back on the subject of colleges: I have sent in my fifth application to NYADA."

"Didn't you already send a bunch of applications in already?"

"This semester it's only been five. I should hear back from them shortly before graduation."

"You're gonna get in," Quinn assured her.

"I hope so."

"Yeah, well, I hope we see each other this summer. Did I tell you my parents agreed to let me throw my first unchaperoned party at the beach house?"

"Are you kidding?"

"They're letting me do it the last week of August; a sort of 'Welcome to Adulthood' party. Finn said he'll definitely be there, which means Puck will probably be there to party with his 'boy'."

"How long have he and Finn been friends?"

"Basically forever. If Finn isn't with me, he's with Puck."

"Honestly, Puck sounds way better than Jesse St. James. And I hate that Jesse sits in front of me in creative writing. Yesterday he was bragging about how some producer saw him performing as one of the chorus boys in _Gypsy_ and offered him a role on _CSI_ or something."

"Seriously?"

"I'd watch it only if they killed his character in the most violent, gruesome way possible." The two girls laughed.

"It's been fun, but I've got to get a jump on my homework."

"Especially if you want to go to Yale. We should wrap it up anyway; I've got another audition tomorrow for a local commercial anyway."

"Break a leg, Rachel."

"Look at you properly using theatre talk."

"Don't I usually?"

"It's just been a while; I actually kind of missed it. I miss you too."

Quinn smiled. "Goodnight, Rachel."

"Goodnight, Quinn." Rachel waited until Quinn was offline before closing her laptop.

...

 _June, 2012_

"And here," Hiram turned the camera to the top of the stairs where Rachel was coming down in her cap and gown, "is our woman of the hour."

" _Young_ woman," Leroy corrected. "She's always our baby no matter how grown up she looks."

"Daddy," Rachel rolled her eyes before giving Leroy a hug.

"We're so proud of you," Hiram didn't even put the camera down as he hugged his daughter.

"Thank you, Papa."

"You really should've put the camera down for that," Leroy commented.

"It's our daughter's graduation and I intend to capture every moment on film," Hiram replied. "There is something else I think we need to capture on film," he pulled an envelope from his pocket and presented it to Rachel.

Rachel looked at the envelope and gasped. "It's from NYADA!"

"We actually want you to open it after you get your diploma. I gave it to you now so that to have something to look forward to during the ceremony."

"Though we know our little superstar got in," Leroy said to the camera with a proud grin on his face.

...

Following the ceremony, an excited Rachel ran over to her fathers' arms for a big hug. "I graduated!"

"Congratulations, Baby," Leroy gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"We are so proud of you," Hiram added.

"So proud."

"Beyond proud," Hiram took out his camera. "Now I believe there's one more moment to capture on camera." Rachel made an excited noise as she took out her envelope. She eagerly tore it open and began reading it to herself, the camera capturing the moment her face began to falter.

"Rachel?" Leroy went to her side and read over the letter. "Oh."

"What? Is it the tuition fee?"

"I didn't get in," Rachel somberly stated. Leroy made a motion to turn the camera off to give Rachel a moment to cry. "The one place I wanted to go to, and I didn't get in. I didn't even have a backup plan!"

"It's okay, Sweetie," Leroy held her as she began sobbing. "We'll help you find someplace else."

"There is no place else!" By this point, Rachel was a crying disaster.

Leroy stroked her hair. "Ssh, everything's gonna be okay."

"No, it's not!"

"Hiram, turn the camera off."

"It is off," Hiram answered back.

"The red light's still on!"

"What do you mean the...the red light's still on. I'm still recording aren't I?"

"Turn off the camera."

"I don't know why it didn't do it the first time. Maybe if I hit this-"

...

The following day, a despondent Rachel lay in her bed. "Rachel," Leroy knocked on the door. "Honey, Quinn called the house phone; she can't get a hold of you and she's worried."

"I don't want to talk to anyone right now," Rachel buried her face into her pillow.

With a sigh, Leroy stepped aside so that Hiram could enter her bedroom. "We were going to wait to give you this, but I think now may be the best time."

Rachel sat up and took what her father was offering her. "Airline tickets?"

"We thought you'd like to see your friend before you left for...the place we will no longer speak about."

Leroy joined them in her room. "We know there's nothing Papa and I can do to make you feel better-"

"-but maybe there's something Quinn can do."

Rachel looked at them. "You're letting me go to Ohio? By myself?"

"You're a big girl, Rachel, we trust you."

"And we know how much you need your friend right now," Leroy added.

Rachel finally smiled. "Thank you," she hugged her fathers. "You two are the best fathers any girl could ever ask for." The now chipper Rachel pulled away. "I need to start packing!"

"We'll call and make the necessary arrangements."

"Wait!" Rachel stopped them. "Don't tell her: I want it to be a surprise."

...

In Ohio, an anxious Quinn was having a dinner date with her boyfriend at the popular restaurant, _Breadstix_. "You didn't have to do this," she said to him.

Finn shrugged. "I felt bad that I didn't get you a real graduation gift so I thought I'd take you out to dinner."

"It's two in the afternoon."

"Early dinner; I kinda have plans with Puck tonight."

"Well thank you for taking me out, it's a nice gesture."

"You okay? You seem kinda...spaced out."

"It's Rachel. I haven't heard from her in a while."

"Is she okay?"

"I don't know; her dads aren't even answering the phone. I'm really worried."

Finn stood up. "Screw the dinner."

"Excuse me?"

"We're gonna go home, pack a suitcase, and drive to New York to see your friend. I mean you'll do the driving 'cause I don't have my license...but I'll ride with you."

"You'd do that for me?"

"That will be my gift." He extended his hand to her.

Quinn took it with a smile. "Finn Hudson, you are amazing." The couple shared a kiss before leaving the restaurant. "You sure Puck won't be upset you're ditching him?"

"He'll be cool; he'll probably even call up one of his lady friends," Finn took his usual spot in the passenger seat of Quinn's car.

"Surprise, surprise." As she pulled out of the restaurant, her phone rang. "It's my mom," she answered the call. "Hi, Mom." Quinn listened to what her mother had to say. "Why, what's wrong?" Finn looked at his girlfriend. "Okay, I'll be right over," she hung up her phone. "We may have a change in plans."

"What's wrong?"

"Mom told me I have to get home now, but she won't say why. It sounds like something's up."

"Like something bad, or..."

"She wouldn't say," Quinn drove the short distance to her house. "Can you walk home from here?"

"Maybe I should wait with you; in case there's something wrong."

"Okay," they got out of the car and hurried into Quinn's house. "Mom?"

"Quinn," the voice that responded back didn't belong to Quinn's mom. Turning toward the living room, Quinn came upon a surprising sight. Rachel Berry was standing there with luggage behind her.

"Rachel?" Quinn couldn't quite believe it.

"I thought maybe I could spend my summer with you. You don't mind do you?"

"No, not at all," in a sort of daze, Quinn walked closer to her. "It's really you?" Rachel nodded while Quinn tried not to cry. "You're really here."

"Surprise."

With an excited scream, Quinn pulled Rachel in for a hug. "I can't believe you're really here!"

"I couldn't wait to see you."

Quinn pulled away. "There's so much here I want to show so! So much we gotta do! So many people you have to meet! Oh!" She led Rachel toward the person who accompanied her into her house. "Rachel Berry, I'd like to introduce you to Finn Hudson."

Rachel thought back to what Quinn had said a while ago. " _Your perfect match is out there somewhere, Rachel. He'll probably come to you when you least expect it"_. Regardless, she sensed there was something special about this tall, brown-haired, doe-eyed boy that she only just met. With a smile, Rachel held her hand out to him. "Hello Finn Hudson."

"Hi Rachel Berry," the two shook hands.

"Quinn didn't tell me how handsome you are."

"Thanks." He pulled his hand away. "Sorry if my hand's sweaty."

"It's fine."

"You know, you're a lot shorter than I thought you'd be."

"Oh, uh...thank you, I guess."

"But you are pretty!" he was quick to add.

"You think so?"

"Sure."

"Come on," Quinn took Rachel by the arm. "You have to eat at _Breadstix_ before you do anything else!" She led her to her car and gave her another hug. "I have waited for this day for...forever! You have no idea how great it is to finally see you again." She opened the passenger door for Rachel. "We've got a lot of catching up to do." Once Rachel was in, an enthusiastic Quinn nearly bounced to the driver's side, eagerly got into the car, and drove off...

...leaving her confused boyfriend standing in her front yard. "So I'll just wait here then?"

* * *

 **A sort of setup/exposition chapter that does accomplish something important (and maybe foreshadows, I'm still not sure). I'll be bringing in some** _ **Glee**_ **members in the next chapter as Quinn tries to help Rachel feel better after Rachel's rejection, so there's that to look forward to.**


	4. Auditions (2012)

**It's been a short while so I don't know if you recall: but I said we were gonna meet some more** _ **Glee**_ **characters in this chapter. I figured that'd be enough cause for some excitement. Nothing really important's gonna happen in here, it'll be another kind of set-up chapter that'll be key for things in the next chapter.**

 **But before we get to the next chapter, we have to get to this one first.**

* * *

 _June, 2012_

Rachel took a deep breath as she finished telling Quinn what happened. Quinn reached out and patted her hand. "They were dumb not to accept you."

"I had my heart set on going there," Rachel sniffled. "I probably should have put my eggs in more than one basket. My dads didn't know what to do so they surprised me with airline tickets to come here thinking you could do something. They figured you're the only other person who knows me best."

"You know, I think I do have the solution."

"Really?"

"If there's one thing that always makes you happy it's performing. And that's what you're gonna do."

"Here?" Quinn nodded. "How?"

"My Spanish teacher Mr. Schuester also handles the community plays. We do famous musicals every summer and usually Christmassy, holiday plays every winter. This year, the musical will be _Meet Me in St. Louis_."

"I do love Judy Garland."

"And you're so super frickin' talented that you're bound to get the lead."

"And you wouldn't be mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"Don't you usually get cast in a big role or as an important young ingénue type character?"

"I think I can handle being in the background this year. I'm sure my years of cheerleading will come in handy for big dance numbers."

"What about the other people?"

"I know it sounds mean to say, but you are way more talented than everyone else. You've even had the training and experience that they haven't. Trust me: you are going to blow everyone out of the water and get the lead and I couldn't be happier for you when you do."

Rachel hugged her friend. "Thank you, Quinn."

"And, I dunno, maybe someone will film it and some big shot Broadway producer will see it and offer you a big Broadway role."

"Are you saying you-"

"It _could_ happen. It might not, but it really hope it does."

"You and me both."

…

"Dude, this is so gay," Noah "Puck" Puckerman commented to his "bro" as they waited in the audience for the auditions. "There is no way I'm doing this."

"They're counting this as community service," Finn reminded. "You gotta do this and the judge will need proof."

"Why can't I do backstage work? They're probably gonna need all the help they can get."

"But how will you prove you did the backstage work?"

"Make an important looking note and forge a signature." Finn raised his brow to his friend. "My forgery skills have improved."

"What is _he_ doing here?" the boys looked to see Quinn (and Rachel) had arrived at the auditorium.

"Nice to see you too, Q."

"Seriously, what are you doing here?"

"A man can't enjoy the theatre?"

"Community service," Finn admitted for his friend.

"Dude!"

Quinn scoffed. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" She brushed past Puck and over to Finn.

"Hey Blondie, you gonna introduce me to Tiny?"

"This is my friend, Rachel. Rachel, this is my…this is Noah."

"Puck," Puck shook Rachel's hand. "Call me Puck."

"Noah Puckerman," Rachel gave him a sort of inspection, "I've heard so much about you."

"All bad I hope?"

"Not _all_ bad."

"Rachel," Quinn sort of hissed.

"You've said some nice things about him when you were younger. Like that time he beat up the bully in middle school."

"Yeah well that's probably the only good thing he'll ever do."

"And even then it was bad," Finn pointed out.

"Okay," Mr. Schuester took center stage, "I'm Will Schuester and I want to welcome everyone to today's auditions for _Meet Me in St. Louis_ , which we're set to perform August twenty-fourth through twenty-sixth. Please note that if you're not cast in a main role, you will also be doubling as chorus members, background performers, all that kind of stuff. Our rehearsal time is limited so I will have audition results posted by five tonight with rehearsals starting tomorrow at ten am sharp. But before we can post the audition results, we have to audition. As I previously requested, I would prefer that you do not audition with any showtunes." There were a few moans at that. "Today we're going to start auditions with the male roles. Kurt, you're first."

A redheaded, presumably gay boy (Rachel didn't want to make that assumption right away), made his way onto the stage. "That's Finn's stepbrother, Kurt," Quinn whispered. "He's really good and can hit a lot of high boy notes."

Rachel had to ask. "Is he-"

"He hasn't made it official yet; but he has told his family and close friends." The girls watched him introduce himself and announce what song he'd be auditioning with. And it was true what Quinn said: Kurt was really good. "I think you two will get along fine." They applauded Kurt when he finished his audition.

"Thank you Kurt. Finn." Will called Finn's name next.

Quinn felt his hand clam up in hers. "Break a leg," she gave him a kiss on the cheek before he got up.

"Hi," Finn gave a nervous wave. "I'm Finn Hudson, and I'm gonna sing ' _Can't Fight this Feeling'_ by REO Speedwagon." He did so, and Quinn wasn't the only girl impressed.

"Thank you, Finn," Will thanked after the applause. Looking at his clipboard, he noticed the next person auditioning. "Oh no."

Puck stood up. "Sounds like I'm next; I did sign up after my boy." He sauntered onto stage.

"What are you up to this time, Puck?"

"I came here to audition."

"Please keep your song choice appropriate, there are little kids here."

"So nothing from _South Park_ then?"

"Are you going to take this seriously?"

"I just want to say I'm not that great of a singer; I think I'm better suited for backstage work."

"Noted."

"But the judge needs proof that I'm doing this community service thing so I figured if she saw me performing she'd know I wasn't lying this time."

"Okay Puck."

"So I guess I gotta sing now?"

"What song will you be singing?"

Puck thought about it. "Can I sing ' _Sweet Caroline_ '?"

Will nodded. "Whenever you're ready."

"Actually, can I go to my truck and get my guitar; I don't like singing without music. The next person can go before me."

"Five minutes, Puck," Puck ran out of the auditorium. "Up next…Blaine Anderson."

"It sounds like he doesn't know who this Blaine guy is," Rachel observed.

"I don't even know who this Blaine guy is," Quinn admitted as Blaine took the stage to sing his portion of _Teenage Dream_.

Sometime during the middle, Puck burst through the door with his guitar and ran toward the side of the stage. Once Blaine was finished, an out of breath Puck stood in his place. "Am I good?"

"Whenever you're ready."

Puck took a deep breath and began to play on his guitar. Much to everyone's surprise (except for Finn's), Puck was actually a wiz on guitar. His singing wasn't so bad either. It was actually a pretty good rendition of the Neil Diamond hit.

"He doesn't want people to know he's good at singing," Finn whispered to the girls. "He's actually a pretty deep dude once you see past the bad boy image." Quinn rolled her eyes at that.

Once finished, Puck went back to his seat. "Please tell me that wasn't too gay."

"Always the charmer, Noah," Quinn muttered as Finn gave his friend a high five.

The four waited for the few remaining men to perform before Mr. Schuester began calling girls to audition. The first was Mercedes Jones, another one of Quinn's friends Rachel had heard of. One of Quinn's cheerleading co-captains, Santana Lopez, also auditioned. There were a good number of others—an Asian girl about Rachel's age, some elementary and middle school girls auditioning for the younger sisters, and a few adult women—before it was Quinn's turn.

"I'm Quinn Fabray," Quinn introduced, "and I'm going to sing _'I Say a Little Prayer'_ by Dionne Warwick."

"Whenever you're ready," Will gestured for her to perform.

Rachel excitedly leaned forward in her seat. She was about to see her friend perform for the first time. And Quinn did not disappoint. Finn couldn't help but notice the proud smile on her face was far bigger than his could ever be. When Quinn was done, Rachel bounded out of her seat and applauded the loudest. Quinn couldn't help but blush when Rachel loudly whistled. "You were amazing!" Rachel gushed when Quinn returned to her seat.

"Rachel Berry."

Quinn put her hands on Rachel's shoulders. "But you'll be even better," she gently pushed her toward the stage.

Rachel cautiously made her way onstage. "Hello," she waved to the audience. "My name is Rachel Berry and the song I'm going to sing is Celine Dion's _'Taking Chances'_."

Will acknowledged this with what seemed to be his trademarked, "Whenever you're ready."

She took a moment to get into her "singing mode," exhaled a deep breath, and belted out the song. Quinn seemed to be the only one who wasn't surprised by the big voice coming out of the small girl. Noticing the surprised looks on everyone's faces, she sat back in her seat with a proud smirk. Rachel pretty much had the lead role and Quinn was more than happy for her.

The only one who wasn't happy with Rachel's performance was Rachel. As they waited for the cast list to be posted, Rachel listed all the things she did wrong while she paced.

"No one cares," Quinn tried to assure her. "Rachel, you were fantastic and you pretty much got the lead."

"But-"

"Why don't you go mingle with some of your future cast mates, okay?" Quinn gently pushed Rachel toward Kurt and Mercedes. "Kurt, Mercedes, I'd like to introduce you to my friend Rachel." Rachel gave a nervous wave.

"You clearly have talent," this was Kurt's way of greeting her. "Why waste it here?"

"Kurt."

"Didn't you say she was from New York?" Mercedes asked Quinn.

"Yes, but she's staying with me for the summer."

"Well any friend of Quinn's is a friend of ours," Mercedes surprised Rachel by giving her a hug. "Welcome to Lima."

"Thank you," Rachel genuinely thanked. "How long have you guys known Quinn?"

"Pretty much forever; middle school, high school-"

"Glee club, drama club-"

"That time I was briefly in the Cheerios and you played football." Kurt snapped his fingers in remembrance. "So pretty much forever. How long have you known Quinn?"

"Uh..." Rachel had to think back, "...we met at Coney Island summer 2004 when we were ten years old."

"That's when I first saw Rachel sing," Quinn added. "She's going to be a big star someday."

"And yet she comes to Lima," Kurt commented. "It just baffles me and I'm curious to know why."

"She doesn't have to explain herself."

"It's okay," Rachel told her. "I was rejected from the only college I applied for so my dads thought it would be a good idea for me to spend the summer with Quinn. We hadn't seen each other in person in eight years and they thought maybe Quinn could help make me feel better."

"That's when I suggested she start performing again. Rachel's always happy when she's performing."

"And here we are now."

"Dads?" that was the part Mercedes focused on.

"Yes, I have two gay fathers; one Jewish, one black."

Mercedes made some sort of noise as she nodded. Immediately after, Kurt cleared his throat and not-so-subtlety gestured to Will Schuester walking toward the bulletin board with a piece of paper. "And..." he waited until the paper was tacked onto the board, "...posted." They fast-walked over to the list. "I'll look first," he looked for his name. "Kurt Hummel...Clinton Badger and chorus."

"Say what?" Mercedes didn't believe that. "I thought for sure if you didn't get the lead male you'd be the Smith brother."

"They gave that role to that Blaine kid. Guess I got some new competition."

Mercedes searched for her name. "Mercedes Jones as Eve and chorus?"

"At least they didn't make you the middle age Irish maid."

"Does the maid even sing in the movie?"

"This production is actually based on the 1989 musical where every main character sings. I see Mr. Schuester casted himself as Mr. Smith. No surprise Miss Pillsbury is Mrs. Smith."

"Mr. Schue's totally crushing on her," Mercedes explained to Rachel.

"Ugh, Mr. Ryerson is the grandpa. Santana Lopez is Lucille Ballard. Tina Cohen-Chang is in the chorus. Other chorus members include Mike Chang, Sam Evans, Matt Rutherford, Joe Hart, blah, blah, blah."

"Quinn Fabray, Rose Smith," Quinn read. "At least they didn't put me as one of the little girls."

Rachel looked at the list. "Oh my God, I'm Esther!"

Quinn gave her a congratulatory hug while Rachel's new friends patted her on the back. "I knew you would be!"

"Well it's no Barbra Streisand role, but any Judy Garland part is just as great."

"Well, well," Kurt was still reading the list. "I see Finn is our boy next door, John Truitt."

"No surprise there," Mercedes muttered.

"Huh, now that is a surprise."

"What?"

"The one they casted as Rose's love interest." Mercedes looked at the list and burst into laughter.

"Who?" Quinn read the list and gasped. "No!" She read it again. "He wouldn't!"

Finn and Puck went over to read the cast list. "Finn Hudson as John Truitt: handsome, athletic boy next door, about nineteen." He gave a kind of proud smile at the character description.

An uninterested Puck looked at the list and groaned. "They actually gave me a part." He read his character description. "Warren Sheffield: Rose's suitor, an eligible young man from a rich family." He scoffed at that. "What a crock."

"What part did you get, Quinn?" Quinn's response was barely above a whisper. "What?"

"Rose," she gritted through her teeth. When Puck laughed at that, she sent him a death glare that got him to immediately stop laughing.

"I think this is the first play where we're my guy's not in love with your girl."

"If it helps," Rachel began, "I'll be playing your love interest, Finn."

Finn shrugged. "That's cool. Hey Puck, want to get a burger?"

"Your treat?" Puck asked.

"Fine," Finn turned to his girlfriend and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll see you later, Quinn." As Puck followed his friend out, he puckered his lips at Quinn and laughed. This only made Quinn ball her hands into fists.

"Quinn," Rachel stepped in front of her friend, "you're not mad about this are you?"

Quinn took a deep breath. "Rachel, seriously, I'm really happy you got the lead."

"And the thing with Finn as my love interest? Is that going to be a-"

"I'm fine with it; it's just acting. It's the thing with Puck as _my_ love interest that has me mad."

"I dunno, it does come pretty close to fulfilling your middle school fantasy."

"I seriously regret ever telling you I had a crush on him once."

"You know something: I think he kinda likes you. When a guy picks on a certain girl all the time it usually means he likes her."

"Puck likes any girl with a pulse. He bothers me because I'm the only one who rejected him."

"I even went out with him once," Mercedes admitted. "Thankfully, it didn't last long." She put her hand on Quinn's shoulder. "I'll pray for you girl."

"I'm gonna need it. Come on Rachel, let's go celebrate," Quinn left with Rachel following.

"You sure you're okay with this?" Rachel asked again.

"Of course I am; why do you keep asking?"

Rachel fidgeted a little before answering. "I think maybe I have a tiny crush on Finn."

Quinn quirked a brow. "You do?"

"You talked about him so much, and when I saw him I thought he was kinda cute."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"We're best friends, right?" Quinn nodded. "Best friends tell each other everything. I have a tiny crush on Finn—who happens to be your boyfriend."

"So?"

"So I wanted to be honest with you. Plus you and I both know I'm terrible at keeping secrets; you were bound to find out. Your boyfriend is going to pretend to be in love with your best friend who happens to have a crush on him."

"Just a tiny crush. It's not a big deal."

"It's not?"

"A lot of people have a crush on Finn. Kurt even has a crush on Finn," this made Rachel emit a small giggle. "This crush you have will probably go away once you get to know him."

"Maybe you're right." There was a pause as the girls got into Quinn's car. "And it's just a tiny crush. There may not be anything to worry about. He is with you after all."

"Right."

"So you are okay with this?"

"Absolutely."

"Good."

As Quinn reached for her seatbelt, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. Her best friend had a crush on her man and would be playing his love interest. Once the seatbelt clicked, Quinn brushed this off. Finn was an attractive, likable guy; it wasn't that hard for anyone (his stepbrother included) to have a crush on him.

There probably wasn't anything to worry about after all.

* * *

 **I'm so bummed to say that Garry Marshall—who directed the movie this fic is based on—passed away yesterday. He directed a lot of movies I like and I was super excited to see him act in the CBS revival of** _ **The Odd Couple**_ **. I wanted to give a special shout-out to him and hope that people revisit some of his work. RIP Garry.**

 **FUN FACT: Lea Michele, who plays Rachel, was directed by Garry in the ensemble movie** _ **New Year's Eve**_ **.**


	5. The Party (2012)

**I think this may be the chapter where things start to happen. At least I can guarantee something similar to the** _ **Beaches**_ **plot where both C.C. & Hillary were attracted to the same man (John) but with my own twist. **

* * *

_August, 2012_

Quinn had to keep reminding herself she wasn't the jealous type. She had to repeat it to herself or in her mind like a mantra.

 _There is nothing going on between my best friend and my boyfriend._

The majority of their summer was spent preparing for the play and if there was any sort of free time with Finn, Rachel would be there too (she was there to spend the summer with Quinn after all). Sometimes Finn and Rachel would even hang out alone using "rehearsing" as an excuse. Heck, they even got along as if they had always known each other despite only meeting in June.

 _Don't jump to conclusions_. She would internally remind herself. _Finn is your boyfriend and he's very loyal_. Loyalty was one of Finn's best, endearing qualities. Plus Rachel was a very sweet, caring best friend. She would never do anything so low like steal Quinn's boyfriend.

Even if she did have a "tiny" crush on him.

"Earth to Blondie!" Puck snapped his fingers in her face. "We gonna do this or not?"

Quinn blinked back into focus. "Yeah, let's just get this over with."

"You okay?"

Quinn nodded. "I kinda spaced out there for a second. I got a lot on my mind."

"Bull shit."

"The show's in a week and you still need practice with our duet. Let's just rehearse this song so you can leave."

Puck chuckled. "Looks like someone's jealous."

"Excuse me?"

"I've seen that look on a chick before. You're jealous and you're trying to convince yourself that you're not."

"What could I possibly be jealous of? "Puck pointed behind him to Finn and Rachel rehearsing in the dining room. "Why would I be jealous?"

"Because your girlfriend is clearly in love with your boyfriend."

"Rachel's not-"

"You're afraid he's gonna leave you for her." Quinn said nothing in response. "As much as I love drama, there isn't any. Finn's too good of a guy to do that to you."

"Does he love me?"

"Excuse you?"

"Finn. You tell each other everything: has he ever told you he loves me?"

"Truth?"

"Truth."

"He's never used that word before. He thinks you're awesome, super-hot, totally cool, and he really, _really_ likes you. But _love_ ; he's never used that word about you. His mom's meatloaf, sure; but not you." Quinn bit her lip. "It's a high school relationship. Do those ever seriously last? Are you really gonna give a damn about Finn Hudson in the next few years?"

"Yes!"

There was a pause before Puck got serious. "What about you? Do you love him?"

She took a moment to answer. "Truth?"

"Truth."

"I thought I did. I'm not so sure anymore. Sometimes I take him for granted and now I'm thinking I love him just because I might have some competition."

"You know how many other chicks and homos have crushes on Finn?"

"Nice choice of vocabulary, Noah."

"Whatever. You and Rachel aren't the only ones attracted to him—I'm pretty sure Finn knows that—but he's faithful to you." Quinn stared at him. "So are we gonna practice or not; I've got fight club later."

"I need you to do something for me." Puck raised a suggestive eyebrow. "Ew, never."

"Never say never, Babe."

"Don't call me that. I need you to go out with Rachel." She couldn't read the expression on his face. "I don't care whether or not you sleep with her, but I want you to take her on a date. Get to know her a little, make her fall for you, just try to take her mind off of Finn."

"I dunno, Q."

"Don't you like her?"

"She is kinda hot."

She felt as though he was holding back. "But?"

"But she's short and annoying. She seems kinda high maintenance too."

"One date, that's all I ask."

Puck considered this. "One date?"

"One date."

He held out his hand. "I'm gonna need cash."

"Your pool cleaning business doesn't pay enough?"

"I'm saving for some grade-A nunchucks. Besides, this is something _you_ want."

Quinn huffed. "Fine," she reached for her purse and gave him $30. "Take her someplace fancy."

Puck stashed the money in his pocket. "Hey Tiny!"

Rachel came into the living room. "Yeah, Noah?"

"You, me, Saturday night, _Breadstix_ , my treat."

"Uh…yeah, sure, okay."

He held up a peace sign. "Mazel Tov."

…

Much to Quinn's surprise, Puck actually held up his end of the bargain. She spent that Saturday with Finn (mostly in a hot tub) while Puck took Rachel to _Breadstix_. Quinn wasn't sure what else happened, but she was curious when Rachel came home around eleven at night.

"How'd it go?" she asked Rachel.

Rachel shrugged. "Not quite like what I expected."

"I'm sorry if he was a real jerk to you."

"Noah was actually pretty decent. I mean, yeah at the beginning he was kind of a jerk but as the night went on…" Rachel trailed off. "…you really don't give him enough credit; he's not so bad."

"We are talking about Noah Puckerman, right?"

"He's not a bad guy, Quinn."

"Are you gonna go out with him again?"

"I think that's more up to Noah than me," with that, Rachel went upstairs to the guest bedroom.

The following Monday, a costumed Quinn confronted Puck at dress rehearsal. "Well."

Puck stared back in confusion. "Well what?"

"Are you going to ask Rachel out again?"

"She's cool—and my Mom would appreciate that she's Jewish—but Rachel's really not my type."

"I sincerely doubt Warren Sheffield wears that kind of outfit," Puck hadn't noticed Kurt standing nearby in his costume. "Dress rehearsal means rehearsing in costume so you should probably put yours on."

"Unless you're Mr. Schue, or that kid in the wheelchair who's helping him direct, I don't have to listen to you."

"Go put on your costume, Noah," Quinn ordered. Begrudged, but silent, Puck headed for the costume room.

Kurt was clearly impressed. "Okay, how did you do that?"

"He may like women, but he's powerless against them."

"So true." Kurt made sure the coast was clear. "Now what's this I hear about Puck going out with Rachel _again_?"

"I asked Puck to take Rachel out on Saturday so I could spend some time with Finn. They seemed to have had a decent time but he's not gonna ask her out again."

"Really?"

"She's not his type apparently."

"She's not a girl?" Quinn couldn't help but chuckle. "Well what did Rachel say about their date?"

"It didn't go like she expected."

"Oh?"

"She said he started off like a jerk in the beginning and that was pretty much it. She told me he wasn't so bad and that I don't give him enough credit."

"And you were taking about the same guy?"

"I couldn't believe it either. Still, she said he was pretty decent. If she has nothing terrible to say about him, why won't she go out with him again?"

Kurt gave a shrug. "Maybe Rachel's too in love with Finn to give Puck a chance."

"What?"

"Come on Q; she's terrible at hiding her obvious crush on Finn, and you know it."

"There's no need to turn it into anything serious. It's just a crush, Kurt."

"I hope for your sake it is."

...

 _August 31, 2012_

"Wow," Rachel awed as she caught her first glimpse of Quinn's beach house. "This place is amazing." She viewed her surroundings. "I wouldn't mind living in a place like this."

"You live in New York," Quinn reminded. "Isn't that more exciting?"

"I haven't really thought much about New York since I've been here."

"So you're not going home anytime soon?"

"You sound like you're trying to get rid of me."

"I'm not. You just haven't really talked about going home or going to college."

"About that," Rachel started, "I've applied to the University of Lima."

"You did?"

"I did a few days after you got your acceptance letter. I thought we could go there and be roommates. I told my Dads when they came down to see the play and they were okay with it."

"It has nothing to do with the fact that Finn is going there too?"

"He is?" Rachel was genuinely surprised. "I didn't know that."

"Well he is," Quinn unlocked the front door. "Come on: we've got five hours to get ready for the party."

Rachel gave an excited squeal. "I'm so excited! This is the first real party I've ever been too and it's completely unchaperoned! We have everything we need right?"

"I told everyone they should bring their favorite snack and CDs so we'll have food and music. We've got plenty of CDs around the house and if I run out of food, I can pick up some at the nearby convenience store."

"What about party games?"

"The only game people play at parties like this is Seven Minutes in Heaven. No one plays party games."

"Oh."

"But I'm sure once people chug down the booze we'll use one of the empty bottles for Spin the Bottle."

Rachel's eyes went wide. "We're going to have alcohol here?"

"Duh."

"How? We're too young to buy any."

"A few of our friends have older siblings or fake IDs."

"I've never had alcohol before."

"You don't have to drink if you don't want to. I'll probably have a wine cooler, those aren't really alcoholic." She noticed Rachel tense up. "Rachel, relax; it's not like anyone's gonna force you to drink."

"Actually, I think I want to. It'll kinda be my first step into adulthood. One drink isn't going to hurt right?"

...

Rachel had completely lost all inhibition before eleven p.m. She liked her first drink so much that she had a couple more. When she opted to cut down on the alcohol, she decided to drink the punch...

...which had obviously been spiked.

Quinn was standing against the wall drinking her second wine cooler watching her slightly drunk friends encouraging Rachel to get even more hammered with "Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" When she finished, they applauded her. After Finn gave her a congratulatory slap on the back, Rachel turned around and made out with him.

And Finn didn't pull away.

"What's say we continue this little party in the basement?" Rachel was dangerously close to slurring her words.

Finn, who had a few to drink himself, responded with a shrug and a rather loud, "Yeah, okay, sure!" before Rachel pulled him to the basement and Finn closed the door behind them.

Hurt, Quinn threw her wine cooler aside and stomped over to Puck. He was bragging to some girl about some petty crime he committed when Quinn pulled him away. "Why the hell did you-" she cut him off with a rough, yet still passionate kiss. When it was over, Puck wasn't sure what just happened. "Uh..."

Quinn grabbed his shirt and pulled him in close to whisper, "You, me, bedroom, now."

...

In the basement, Rachel and Finn had been making out on the couch, when Finn abruptly stopped. "What's-a matter, Baby?" Rachel asked.

Finn was close to having a panic attack. "I can't do this."

Rachel pouted and then slowly started pulling down her shirt to expose her bra covered chest. "You don't like my body?"

He gulped. "It's a nice body."

Rachel seductively giggled as she kissed Finn's neck. He moaned excitedly at this maneuver. "Don't you want my body?"

"No!" When Finn stood up, Rachel fell forward. "I can't-" She stared at him. "We can't do this to Quinn."

"She doesn't have to know."

"But I'll know! And I'll feel really bad." He sat in a nearby chair.

"I get it. You're a virgin." He looked up at her. "That's okay; I'm a virgin too."

"I'm not a virgin."

"What?"

"Santana Lopez convinced me to have sex with her sophomore year. It meant nothing to me because I don't care for Santana the same way I care for Quinn. But Quinn is saving herself for marriage and-"

"You've had sex before?"

"I just said I did, yeah."

"And not with Quinn?"

"This was before Quinn and I were dating."

"Well," Rachel did a sexy (if not clumsy) strut over to him, "maybe you should do it with another girl while you and Quinn _are_ dating."

"Rachel, no!" Finn pushed her away. "Look, I do care about you! If I wasn't with Quinn...I dunno, I guess I could see us getting together."

"You could?"

"But I'm with Quinn."

"Are you happy with her?"

That question caught Finn off guard. "What?"

"Are. You. Happy. With. Her."

He sighed. "I dunno. I care about her a lot and I really, _really_ like her; but I feel like something died between us a while ago."

"Let me bring it back to life, then."

"Rachel, please."

Rachel flung herself at him. "Finn, I love you!"

"You're just saying that because you're drunk." Rachel made a face. "Rachel?" She then proceeded to vomit all over him. "Aw, ew!" She started crying immediately after that. "Rachel, it's okay." He brought her in for a comforting hug and began smoothing her back. "I'm not mad." She continued to cry in his hold. "Why don't I help get you cleaned up?" She nodded through her sobs. "Okay: we'll get cleaned up and I'll put you to bed." He began leading her up the stairs. "Quinn's probably got some extra pajamas in her room." Finn continued ushering Rachel up another level of stairs and toward the bedroom Quinn usually slept in. "I think it's this one." When he tried to open the door, he discovered it was locked. "Maybe there's something in her sister's room." He led her to the room next door. Once he put Rachel on the bed, he avoided looking through a girl's dresser by searching the closet for some pajamas. Instead, he found a nightgown. "I think this nightgown might-" when he turned around, he saw Rachel passed out on the bed. He couldn't help but smile to himself before putting the nightgown on over her clothes. After that, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight, Rachel."

...

"This is so wrong," Quinn managed to say once she had a breath.

While kissing her neck, Puck slid his hand up and down her thigh. "But it feels so right."

She pushed him off. "I can't do this."

"You need me to get you another wine cooler?"

"This isn't fair to Finn. You should go."

Puck angrily got off the bed. "Hey, you were the one who wanted this!"

"I changed my mind."

"You can't do that!"

"I can, and I did."

"If you're calling it off because of him, then why did you bring me up here in the first place?" Quinn didn't say anything. "I know you're not drunk. I've been watching you, Q: you can't get drunk off two wine coolers." She bit her lip. "I think I at least deserve to know why I'm here."

"They made out." Puck understood who she was referring to but Quinn still clarified, "Finn and Rachel. She made out with him and he didn't stop her." Puck sat beside her on the bed. "Then she led him to the basement and he closed the door behind them."

"So this is a revenge thing? He's gonna have sex with _your_ best friend so you're gonna have sex with _his_ best friend." Quinn looked at the ground. "There are worse ways to be used." She started weeping. "What's wrong this time?"

"I've never done it with anyone before."

"Well you were president of the celibacy club."

"No, it's...what we were just doing...I…I liked it."

Puck seemed stunned by this revelation. "You did?"

"I only stopped because what we're doing is wrong."

"You sure that giant picture of Jesus over the bed isn't a factor?" Quinn laughed. "It wasn't that funny."

"That's not why I'm laughing," she stopped doing so to explain why. "I know it's stupid but when we were in middle school, I had a huge crush on you."

Puck let out some sort of disbelieved chuckle. "I never knew that." He sighed. "I wish you would have told me."

"Why?"

"Because maybe I also had a crush on you," Quinn looked at him. "Maybe I always have." They both stared into each other's eyes. "And maybe I still do." The next thing either of them knew, they were leaning in close. Eventually, they closed the gap when they locked lips with each other and fell onto the bed.

"I want this," Quinn had given her consent.

"I want you."

"Take me." They had resumed where they left off earlier. "Wait," again, Quinn had stopped him.

"Oh, come on!"

"You have to promise not to tell anyone."

He gave a cocky smirk. "Our dirty little secret, Babe." When he leaned in closer, she turned stopped him by putting her hand to his face. Of course he growled in annoyance at this.

"What about protection?"

"I got it." She raised a brow at him. "Trust me." He could tell by the look on her face that she didn't. "Hey," he tenderly brushed her hair back, "what we're about to do, it'll be more than just another hookup for me. I meant it when I said I want you." He began kissing her neck, which resulted in her letting out a sort of satisfied gasp.

"Lose the shirt."

"Take it off for me." She practically ripped it off his body. "See that?" Puck pointed to his nipple. "You make my nipple ring twitch."

"Why don't you make something off _my_ body twitch?"

Powerless to this woman, Puck proceeded to do what she wanted.

...

"Mercedes," Finn went over to Mercedes, "I can't find Quinn anywhere. Have you seen her?"

"Maybe she went to bed," Mercedes suggested.

"I guess that makes sense; her bedroom door's locked."

"I guess that means she wants you out."

"You don't think she saw me with Rachel did she?"

"If she didn't, wouldn't she still be down here?"

"Oh my God! Oh my God, she probably thinks Rachel and I-"

"Didn't you and Rachel?"

"No! I stopped it before anything could happen." Mercedes made a sassy noise of disbelief at him. "I did, honest. Rachel got sick anyway so I put her to bed. Oh God! I need to tell Quinn that nothing happened. I can get in to her room through-"

"I wouldn't if I were you. I'd give her some time to cool down. You should go back to the basement and sleep there."

"If you see Quinn before I do, could you tell her that nothing happened between me and Rachel." Mercedes nodded. "Thanks, 'Cedes." Finn made his way down to the basement. "I really screwed this up."

...

"Ugh," a hungover Rachel awoke the next morning in one of the bedrooms. She was wearing someone else's nightgown over the clothes she wore to the party, but had no memory of how that happened. "Oh God this is what a hangover feels like." She pressed her hand to her head. "How do I get rid of it?" Stumbling out of bed, she decided to head downstairs, but accidentally entered the closet. Unaware that the closet connected two rooms together, Rachel assumed the other door led to the hallway.

It didn't. It led to Quinn's room. Rachel might have been out of it, but she wasn't too out of it to notice her best friend sleeping in the arms of her boyfriend's best friend. Her hand immediately covered her gasp and she hurried back into the closet. "Oh my God." She calmed herself before opening the door to Quinn's room to make sure she actually saw what she thought she saw.

She did. And she also swore she saw Puck smiling. Staring at him, she thought back to their date.

 _"Let's get one thing clear:" he had started a conversation at the restaurant following a silent car ride, "you're not my type."_

 _"Then why are we even going out?" she had questioned._

 _"I'm being paid to take you out."_

 _"What?"_

 _"I have no interest in you, and you have no interest in me. Don't get me wrong: I'll still sleep with you if you want."_

 _"I don't."_

 _"That doesn't surprise me; you've obviously got the hots for Finn."_

 _"It's that obvious?"_

" _You're not denying it?"_

 _"No. I told Quinn it was a tiny crush, but lately I've been developing real feelings for him."_

 _"Sucks when you really like someone you can't be with?"_

 _"How would you know?"_

 _"Me and that fantasy of banging Pamela Anderson when she still had her_ Baywatch _body? Yeah, that ain't gonna happen."_

 _Rachel seemed to understand why he diverted to his player persona. "You have feelings for Quinn, don't you?"_

 _Puck adjusted himself in his seat. "Finn's too good of a guy to break a girl's heart. Quinn would have to break it off with him and I don't see that happenin' either."_

 _"Ironic isn't it? We're both wanting to be with our best friend's lover, but we're here with each other." Puck kept silent. "You're not denying you want to be with Quinn." Rachel put her hand over his. "I promise I won't tell that you love her."_

 _Puck slid his hand away. "A guy like me is incapable of love."_

 _"You're really not Puck. You only think that because no one's shown you love."_

 _"What do you-"_

 _"Quinn's told me about you. About your family drama, the girls you've been with, your bad reputation."_

 _"So what are some not_ all _bad things you've heard about me?"_

 _"I'm not going to tell you."_

 _"Not even if I tell you things about Finn?"_

 _"I doubt there's anything you can tell me that Quinn hasn't. She says Finn is a very open and honest guy."_

 _"Yeah, but between me and Quinn only one of us has seen Finn naked, and it wasn't her." This got Rachel to laugh. "Listen, I know this date isn't going anywhere, but we still should probably eat something."_

" _I am hungry," she held the menu to her face._

" _And Rachel," she lowered the menu to make eye contact with Puck, "thanks."_

It looked like Puck had gotten what he secretly wanted. And maybe, just maybe, there was a chance the same could happen for Rachel.

* * *

 **Yeah, yeah I like Quick. Plus they do have a child together and [SPOILER] the character Quinn's based on does end up pregnant. However, I also have to keep up with** _ **Glee**_ **canon.**

 **Be honest, did any of you see this coming? I ask because I wasn't sure if this was predictable or not.**


	6. Thanksgiving (2012)

**So I kinda told you what you could expect to happen at the end of the last chapter. Expect it to happen in this chapter.**

 **Plot wise, I also wasn't sure where to stop, so this chapter is going to be longer than the others.**

* * *

 _October, 2012_

Rachel listened as Quinn tried to cover up the sound of her vomiting with running water from the bathroom sink. Quinn came out of their bathroom in a rumpled t-shirt and sweatpants not caring what she looked like. "I take it we're too sick to go to classes today?" Rachel had asked when Quinn exited the bathroom.

Quinn placed her pillow over her head. "I hate feeling like this."

"I'm not gonna catch what you have, am I?"

"Hopefully; I want you to suffer."

"You're so considerate, Quinn."

"I'm so fat."

Rachel couldn't help but laugh. "What?"

"I've fallen victim to the Freshman Fifteen."

"That's because you've been eating everything—especially the cafeteria's extra greasy bacon."

"I do love bacon."

Rachel lowered herself to Quinn's bunk. "Don't expect me to stay here and nurse your sick butt." Quinn pouted. "That's not gonna work, Quinn."

"It did yesterday."

"Well not today. After classes, I'm going to lunch with Mercedes. She said she's had something she's wanted to tell us since the party."

"The party that neither of us remember." Quinn quickly covered her mouth and Rachel backed away. "False alarm," she tried to assure as she lowered her hand.

"You sure?"

"Hopefully I emptied the contents of my stomach the last time I was in the bathroom."

"Do you want me to pick you up some soup or something?"

"I'll call Finn and ask him to pick me something up from the pharmacy." She noticed Rachel's face falter at the mention of Finn's name. "He does miss you. You should talk to him."

"He's been kinda distant toward me since the party. He won't say why, but…I guess I must've done something super embarrassing to him."

"Besides throwing up on him?"

"But like you said: neither of us remember," Rachel grabbed her purse. "I'll see you later, okay."

"Bye," Quinn waved to her as she left. Once gone, Quinn reached for her cell phone. "Finn, it's me…I need you to cut classes today and do me a huge favor...Finn, please, this is serious," Quinn took a deep breath. "I think I'm pregnant."

…

"Hey girl!" Mercedes greeted Rachel with a hug. "How you been?"

"I've been well," Rachel sat across from her at their table. "I mean I can't really complain health wise."

"How's school?"

"Ugh, I hate it. It's like regular school but harder."

"You gonna stick it out?"

"I'll try to. But I did ask my dads to send me an application for NYADA's spring semester. They're also sending in a video of my performance in _Meet Me in St. Louis_."

"Does anyone else know about this NYADA thing?"

"Not yet."

"I'm the first person you told?"

"You and Kurt do like to be the firsts in the know."

"Speaking of Kurt: I got a story about him I'm just dying to tell you."

"Then tell me! Tell me!"

"I doubt you remember anything from that party at Quinn's beach house," Rachel blushed. "Do you? Girl, you were so wasted I thought that-"

"Can you just tell me about Kurt please?"

"Someone's embarrassed."

"The Kurt story please."

"Do you remember Kurt's competition from the play?"

"You mean Blaine?"

"During a game of truth or dare, Santana dared Kurt to kiss Blaine. He tried protesting but Santana said, 'You're both so obviously gay that you'll probably like it'. This prompted Blaine to ask how she knew and she said she has 'GAYDAR'. He wasn't exactly denying it. So Kurt gave him a small kiss on the cheek, but Santana protested it had to be lips. Kurt kissed Blaine's lips, but the gang was encouraging him to do better. When he kisses him again, it turns into a full blown makeout session."

"Oh my God!"

"During the party, they both went off to talk and no one was sure where…until the next morning." A tantalized Rachel gestured for Mercedes to continue. "A few of us saw Blaine and Kurt come up from the basement with their hair all a mess and their clothes inside out."

Rachel squealed with delight. "I knew it! I knew the minute I saw them together they'd hook up!

"And speaking of hookups," Mercedes leaned in closer, "you and Finn? How was it?"

"Excuse me?"

"At the party. You…Finn…fill in the blanks."

"What blanks?"

"Girl, you honestly don't remember sleeping with Finn?"

Rachel's jaw dropped. "I slept with Finn?" She tried to think back. "I…I can't remember. What happened?"

"You were drunk, you made out with Finn, then you led him to the basement and-"

"Basement? No, I woke up in one of the bedrooms. I thought you said Kurt and Blaine were in the basement."

"They went in around one in the morning; way after Finn took you upstairs."

"Finn took me upstairs?"

"You honestly don't remember?"

Rachel shook her head. "No."

Mercedes sighed. "I guess Finn was telling the truth. He said nothing happened between you guys and he slept in the basement until Kurt and Blaine went down there."

"Oh my God no wonder Finn won't talk to me." Rachel gave a small gasp. "Quinn saw me making out with Finn!"

"She had to have."

"But why would she still be talking to me after…" Rachel then remembered the sight she came across the morning after Quinn's party. "Oh my God it makes sense."

Mercedes shot her a questioning look. "What makes sense?"

Rachel didn't seem to hear her. "She thinks he slept with her best friend so she sleeps with his best friend."

Mercedes heard her though. "WHAT?" When Mercedes realized how loud she was, Rachel realized she had said that last part aloud. "Rachel? What did you mean by that last remark?"

"If I tell you this, you have to swear not to tell anyone else."

"Not even Kurt?"

"No one else."

"I swear." Rachel took a deep breath and fessed up to what she had seen. "Oh my God."

…

"Oh my God," Finn was having a hard time keeping calm. The positive pregnancy tests seemed to be staring at them in a taunting sort of manner. "Oh my God. Oh my God."

"My thoughts exactly," Quinn muttered as she shed some tears.

"How did this happen? Did this happen at the party?"

"That night in the hot tub; we were making out when you prematurely ejaculated."

"Yeah, but we had our swimsuits on."

"I learned hot tubs are like the perfect temperature for sperm; it helps them swim faster." Finn choked out a disbelieved laugh. "So now what do we do?"

"Are you gonna get rid of-"

"No!"

"So you are gonna have it?" Quinn nodded. "Are you gonna _keep_ it?"

…

Rachel was making her way down the hall to her dorm room when she quite literally bumped into Finn. "Finn!"

"Oh, hi Rachel," he greeted her rather nervously.

"Are you okay? You look a little pale."

"I guess there's no harm telling you. You're gonna find out anyway. Can we talk someplace else?"

"I'll take you to the lounge," she started leading him to the building's common area. "I'm surprised you're even talking to me."

"Why's that?"

"I just got back from lunch with Mercedes. She told me what I did at the party; how I made out with you and led you to the basement."

"Oh."

"Finn, I am so, so sorry. I was drunk and-"

"It's okay. Nothing happened."

"Really?"

"Well, you did throw up on me. That's about it."

"Does Quinn know that nothing happened?"

"I told her the minute I saw her the next morning. She was really glad I was honest with her. I also told her not to be mad at you. You weren't really yourself that night and you probably wouldn't even remember what had happened, or in our case _didn't_ happen."

"Thank you, Finn." The two sat down on the lounge's sofa. "Now tell me what's wrong. Did you catch whatever Quinn had?"

"Quinn's pregnant." Rachel's face slowly morphed into shock. "She's keeping the baby."

"Quinn's pregnant?" Finn nodded. All at once it dawned on Rachel. The signs were right in front of her face: the morning sickness, the cravings, the weight gain, and the fact that there were still plenty of unused tampons under the sink. "Quinn's pregnant." Rachel had to ask. "And it's yours?"

"Whose else's would it be?"

 _Puck's_. "Did you and her do it at the party?"

"It actually happened a week before the play. Quinn and I were making out in her hot tub when my rocket blasted off early, if you know what I mean."

"I do."

"I didn't think it was possible because we were in our swimsuits, but I guess the hot tub's temperature made my sperm swim faster."

"Is that what Quinn told you?"

"It's the only possible option."

"You don't think she cheated on you?"

"Quinn? No way. She doesn't believe in sex before marriage anyway. She's your best friend; why would you even suggest that?"

"It was just a thought I should have kept to myself. I just find that hot tub thing a little hard to believe."

"Yeah, me too."

"So what are you going to do? Are you gonna marry her?"

Finn blew out a breath. "I dunno, I hadn't even thought of that." He considered what he was just asked. "I guess I kinda have to now, right?"

"You don't have to."

"I'm gonna be there for my kid. I grew up without a dad," this was the first time Finn was opening up to her. "My kid should have its father in its life."

"You're right, it should. Finn…" Rachel stopped herself. Neither she nor Finn had considered how Quinn was feeling about this. No one—except Rachel, Mercedes, and Puck—knew about what happened at the party. Perhaps Quinn was trying to protect more than her reputation. And given the option, Finn Hudson would probably make a better father than Noah Puckerman. Despite the true paternity, Quinn had chosen Finn to be the father, and it seemed evident Finn would step up to the role.

"Yeah?" he gestured for her to continue.

"You probably shouldn't tell anyone else about this."

"Not even my mom?"

"Not unless Quinn gives you the okay."

"I guess that's fair."

Rachel kissed his cheek. Surprised by this, he turned and faced her. "You'll make a great father, Finn Hudson." The next thing either of them knew, they were leaning in for a kiss.

"Dude," that was cut off by the appearance of the actual father of Quinn's baby, "we still goin' to that movie?" He acknowledged Rachel. "Hey Tiny."

"Hello, Noah."

Puck looked at Finn. "So we goin' to the movies or not?"

"Yeah," Finn quickly went over to his friend. "I'll uh…I'll see you later Rachel."

Rachel gave a small wave. "See you later, Finn." After they left, Rachel headed back up to the dorm she shared with Quinn. "Hi, Quinn." Quinn was sitting on her bed wrapped in a blanket and sobbing. Rachel soon joined her friend on the bed. "I ran into Finn. He told me about the baby." Quinn sniffled. "You were planning on telling me?"

"I didn't make an effort to hide my pregnancy tests," was what Quinn responded with.

"I can understand you telling him first. He is the father." A beat. "He told me you're going to keep it."

"I could never get rid of it."

"Are you gonna put it up for adoption."

Quinn shook her head. "No." She leaned back against the wall. "I've heard that a woman becomes a mother the moment she learns she's pregnant. I am a mother. This is my baby. I can't get rid of it."

"So I guess I'm going to be an aunt?"

"Will you settle for godmother?"

"Absolutely," Quinn hugged her friend. "If you need anything from me, you name it."

"Will you come with me when I tell my parents? I could really use all the support I can get."

Rachel squeezed Quinn's hand. "Of course." They made eye contact with each other. "I promise I'll always be here for you Quinn."

Quinn squeezed Rachel's hand back. "Ditto, Rachel. Ditto."

…

 _November, 2012_

Lucky for Quinn that Rachel was a big support. Her father might as well have disowned her when she told them. It was Quinn's mother Judy who came up with the solution to move Quinn to the beach house. She didn't mention this in front of her husband, of course (Judy never could stand up to Russell). It was Judy who was also secretly sending money to Quinn and telling everyone that Quinn was busy with college. As far as the Fabrays were concerned, no one needed to know about the baby.

Though to be fair, Judy also suggested Quinn marry Finn and tell everyone she conceived on their honeymoon night. It did appear she was going to make an attempt to acknowledge her grandchild.

Quinn's close circle of friends was also informed of Quinn's pregnancy. This included Santana, Brittany, Tina, Artie, Kurt, and Mercedes. They were quick to believe Finn was the father—he and Quinn were dating after all. When questions about the conception arised however, that's when Mercedes blabbed who the real father was.

And eventually, word got around to the real father.

Quinn and Rachel were at their new residence when they got a knock on the door. "I'll get it.," Quinn answered the door.

"'Sup MILF," Puck greeted.

"What are you doing here?"

"Who's the daddy?" Puck got right to the point.

"Excuse me?"

He stepped inside. "Is this another Immaculate Conception? Should I make a call to the Vatican?"

"I'm guessing you heard about my pregnancy?"

"I find it a little hard to believe that it's Finn's."

"Well it is."

"Bull shit. I asked him how it happened. He may be dumb enough to believe that hot tub story, but I ain't."

"That's rich coming from the guy who believed Finn when he told you his mother was having her prostate removed."

"You know my Dad's an asshole deadbeat, but I don't roll that way."

"We're you fired for peeing in a fast food fryolator?"

"Much like the kid's conception, it was an act of revenge. I'd take care of it with the money from my pool cleaning business." Quinn groaned and rolled her eyes at that. "You haven't denied that it's mine."

"You obviously know it's yours. Are you here to blackmail me? Look around, I don't have anything to give you."

"I'd take care of it, you know. You too," they were too focused in their conversation to notice Rachel in the background. "I meant what I said that night. All of it."

"We were drunk."

"You can't get drunk off two wine coolers."

"Then _you_ were drunk."

"I couldn't drink: I lost a bet and was the designated driver. The only drinks I had were a couple of _Mountain Dews_. Would I have liked to have gotten drunk? Hell yeah I would. But I didn't."

"What happened that night was a mistake."

"Not for me it wasn't. I told you I meant what I said." He nervously shoved his hands in his pockets. "I want to be with you. And I'm going to do everything I can to be a good dad to our baby."

" _My_ baby. And I don't care if _my_ baby comes out with a Mohawk; I will go to my grave swearing it's Finn's."

"It would be pretty awesome if it came out with a Mohawk."

"Damn it, Puck; can't you take anything seriously?"

"I did _seriously_ come here and promise to take care of my kid, didn't I? I pretty much said I wanted to be with you!"

"Well I don't want to be with you."

"You're gonna do this on your own?"

"Finn will-"

"He's gonna wise up eventually and leave you."

"You better not tell him!" Quinn knew Puck would do whatever she wanted.

"Fine, I won't say anything; but I'll be damned if I'm not gonna be a part of my kid's life. If I have to, I will go to the courts."

"You wouldn't!"

"Watch me!"

"They wouldn't give a baby to you! Not with your record!"

"I can clean up my act."

"You're not capable of change, Noah."

"Yes, I am. And I am gonna prove to you that I am." They didn't say anything for a moment. "As much as I pick on ya, I don't like to see you hurt. I'll back off for now," he headed for the door. "Just know that I'll be waitin' for you in case you change your mind," with that he left.

Rachel snuck away unnoticed by Quinn. She had once told Quinn she didn't give Puck enough credit, but maybe Rachel didn't either. Kids learn from their parent's mistakes and Puck did promise to be a father to his baby and to be there for Quinn. She also couldn't help but think about Finn. Finn was still going to school and had gotten whatever job he could find. He seemed pretty miserable too. More often than not he would be complaining about how Quinn's pregnancy was hard on _him_.

"Was that Puck?" Rachel pretended as though she just walked in. "What did he want?"

"He lost something at the party," Quinn lied. "I told him it wasn't here and he got kinda pissed."

"I hope he finds whatever he lost," Rachel went along with the story.

"Rachel, I was uh…" Quinn tried to appear as though nothing was wrong, "…I was hoping we could drive into town to pick up some things for Thanksgiving."

"Yeah, sure. Do we have a list of who's coming to dinner?"

"Pretty much all our friends; Tina and Kurt also want to officially introduce their boyfriends so we can expect Mike Chang and Blaine Anderson to show up."

"Mike Chang? Was he the assistant choreographer?" Quinn nodded. "Isn't Tina's last name Chang? They're not related are they?"

"No, they're not," this got Quinn to laugh.

"Is Puck coming?"

That got Quinn to stop laughing. "Why would Puck come?"

"He is Finn's best friend. And from what I know, Puck never turns down free food."

"I didn't really think about that."

"We'll make sure we have enough in case he does show up."

"I hope he doesn't."

…

He did. "I hope you don't mind," Finn had said when he came over with his best friend. "Puck wanted to hang out. Plus he never turns down free food. You have enough food, right?"

"Yes we have enough," Quinn tried to hide her disdain as she glared at Puck.

"I hear congrats are in order," Puck's attention diverted to Quinn's stomach. "Finn told me he popped your cherry and put a bun in your oven."

"Appropriate as always, Noah."

"Guess that explains why you put on a little weight."

"Dude, don't talk to my girlfriend like that," Finn admonished.

"I apologize, I was out of line," Puck headed for the kitchen where most of their friends were surprised to see Puck dressed somewhat decently. "'Sup gang," he helped himself to some vegetables that had been spread on the table.

Finn held up his tin-foiled wrapped dish. "My Mom made a casserole. You want me to put it on the table?"

Quinn stepped aside for Finn to make his way toward the table. "Please." She then turned to Rachel. "Rachel," Rachel excused herself from conversation and went over to Quinn, "you get the turkey, I'll get your meal?" Quinn was referring to the vegetarian meal she helped cook for Rachel.

"Yeah," the girls went to get the food. "Okay, guys," Rachel carried the poultry to the table and set it center. "Dinner's ready."

Quinn, meanwhile, set Rachel's meal in front of her table. "I'll go get the napkins." As she headed for the kitchen, she slipped.

"Quinn!" Finn rushed over to his girlfriend. However, he wasn't the only one who did so. "Is it the baby? Is it coming?"

"Should we get hot towels?" Puck questioned as he knelt on Quinn's other side.

"Will the both of you just shut up?" she answered back. "I just slipped, I'm fine." She looked toward Finn. "Help me up." He did as she wanted while Puck backed away.

"You don't think it's weird that he rushed to Quinn's aid, do you?" Rachel whispered to the friends.

"You don't have to play the fool. We already know Puck's the baby daddy," Kurt informed her as he headed for the table. "Can we try not to have an awkward dinner please?"

…

At some point, dinner got awkward. It wasn't just some of the topics of conversation—like when Brittany unknowingly revealed she and Santana were sleeping together—but talk did turn to Quinn's pregnancy. While some of the aspects of pregnancy were disgusting for the guys to hear, it did eventually segue to medical bills that Finn wasn't paying.

"I'm doing the best I can, Quinn," Finn had mumbled.

"Yeah, well it's not good enough," she snapped back.

"This hasn't been easy for me, Quinn."

"Oh and you think it's been easy for me?" By this point the guests were staring at their plates trying to avoid the tension. "All I hear is how this is hard for _you_. How can you expect to take care of a baby when you can't even take care of yourself?"

With that, Finn angrily got out of his chair. He kicked it aside before storming out to the deck of the beach house. Everyone sat in awkward silence before Mercedes broke it with, "Pass the rolls."

Following dinner, everyone gathered in the living room to watch TV. "I think I'm gonna check on Finn," Rachel broke away to check on Finn. She fetched his jacket and knocked on the sliding glass door. "Finn?"

He turned to face her. "Hey, Rachel."

"I thought you might be cold," she stood as high as she could to drape his jacket over his shoulders (the boy was tall after all). "Are you okay?"

"I guess. I'm just so sick of Quinn pressuring me to make more money to pay all these bills. I've been working part-time, going to school, and I really want to tell my mom about the baby but Quinn asked me not to. I hate keeping secrets."

"You and me both."

"With you it's probably gossipy kind of stuff. I doubt it's anything as major as mine."

Rachel supposed now was a good a time as any. "You deserve to be happy, Finn."

"Thanks Rachel."

"That's why I'm about to tell you what I have to tell you." Finn gave her a skeptic look. That look quickly changed to confused awe, and soon, anger. "FINN!" Rachel called as Finn stormed into the house and lunged for Puck.

Enjoying this, Blaine leaned against the wall sipping his wine. "It's not really Thanksgiving until dramatic secrets are revealed," he quipped as Mike helped pull Finn off of Puck.

"Who told you this, Finn?" Quinn was crying as she questioned him.

"Obviously it was Rachel," Kurt noted.

"What? No, I didn't do anything." Rachel denied.

"Yeah, it was Rachel," Finn informed everyone as he stared at Quinn. "But I want to hear it from you." It was so quiet after that you, could hear a pin drop. "Just tell me is it true?"

Quinn was a sobbing mess at this point. "Yes…Puck is the father."

Despite knowing the truth, Finn still couldn't believe it. He tried to form words, but couldn't properly do so. "So all that stuff in the hot tub; you just made that up?"

"You were stupid enough to buy it!" Puck insulted back.

Finn tried to attack him, but Mike held him back while Artie rolled in front of Puck's path. Finn managed to push himself off of Mike. "I'm done with you," he pointed to Quinn. He kicked another chair before storming out screaming, "I'M DONE WITH ALL OF YOU!"

Blaine poured him and Kurt a glass of wine. "And now it's an official Thanksgiving," Kurt and his boyfriend clinked their glasses together.

…

After everything was said and done and the guests were gone, Rachel joined an upset Quinn on the couch. "I'm so sorry about what I did. I can totally understand if you want to hurt me. If you do; I only ask that you avoid my nose." Quinn didn't say anything. "I can also understand if you're super mad and want me to move out."

"I'm not mad," Quinn quietly confessed. "What you did, that was brave. I know I should have done it myself, but I don't blame you. You said so yourself: you're terrible at keeping secrets."

"You should also know that I was listening when Puck came over. When he vowed he was going to take care of you and the baby. That was kinda one of the reasons I told Finn. Puck really cares and he deserves a chance."

"I can see that he does. And now that everything's out in the open, I have no reason to deny him being a part of his child's life." Rachel agreed to that with a nod. "But that doesn't mean I want to be with him."

"So you're gonna raise the baby on your own?"

"You don't think I can do it?"

"I know you can do it." Rachel squeezed Quinn's hand. "And I'm gonna help you as much as I can."

Quinn leaned into Rachel's side. "Thank you."

"What are best friends for?"

* * *

 **I figured it'd be best to end it here because I have plans for Rachel in the next chapter. But what plans do I have in store?**


	7. Surprises (2012-2013)

**I like how** _ **Beaches**_ **does this kinda thing where the first half focuses on Bette Midler's character and the second half on Barbara Hershey's character after a sort of convergence point—which in the movie's case is when the baby's born. While that was cool, I've been trying to give both girls equal share of plot.**

 **The last chapter kinda focused more on Quinn's plot, so this one will focus on what I consider an important Rachel plot. Again, I wasn't exactly sure where to stop, so it may be kinda long.**

* * *

 _December, 2012_

"Please! Please! Please!" Rachel was begging Quinn.

"No," Quinn declined.

"You honestly don't know want to know the sex of your unborn child?"

"I do want to know, but I'm going to find out from a qualified medical professional and not you trying some dumb method you read off the internet."

"It's so close to Christmas! I have to shop and I want to shop for my future godchild."

"So shop for your future godchild."

"I can't unless I know for sure what it is! I am just the worst at buying gender neutral things."

"Then don't buy anything for the baby."

"Quinn, you can't tell a born shopper _not_ to buy anything."

"I meant don't buy the baby anything for Christmas. By the time my baby shower rolls around I'll already know what I'm having and you can buy a crap-ton of gender specific things then."

"Yeah, well..." Rachel shuffled a little, "...I still want to test those methods." As Quinn opened her mouth, Rachel cut her off, "Just for fun! You know, kind of a pretest before the actual test. I promise I'll keep the results to myself until after the doctor tells you."

"Okay fine," Quinn gave in.

"Yay!" Rachel enthusiastically clapped her hands. "Could you cut a lock of your hair while I get the _Draino_?"

"Wait, what?"

"Do you have to pee? It works better if you have to pee."

"Rachel, you're starting to freak me out. What sort of tests involve my hair, _Draino_ , and pee?"

"For the ring test they say you get better results if you use the mother's hair as the string."

"Then what's the _Draino_ for?"

"For the _Draino_ test, you take a tablespoon of _Draino_ and mix it with your pee-"

"Absolutely not!"

"They have a safer alternative with baking soda."

"Yeah, you're not doing these tests."

Rachel pouted and stamped her feet. "Ugh, you're no fun!"

"If you want: you can be in the room with me when I find out the sex."

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"What about Puck?" Quinn groaned at the mention of his name. "You promised him that he can be a part of his child's life."

" _Post_ -natal life. _Pre_ -natal wise I'd prefer to steer clear of Noah Puckerman."

"You should at least have the decency to tell him whether or not you're carrying his son or daughter."

"Okay, yeah, fair enough," Quinn grumbled.

"He does love you, Quinn."

"Yeah, but...I just don't love him."

"I think maybe you do."

"I think maybe the _Draino's_ gone to your head."

"I can see you two ending up together."

"Well I can't."

"You did before."

"That was a long time ago, Rachel!"

"Look, I'd really rather not turn this into an argument. There's no point. Just...just give him more of a chance, okay."

Quinn sighed. "I can't promise I'll fall in love with him—and I seriously doubt I will—but I can at least promise to be civil and co-parent with him."

"That's a start." Rachel paused. "And the co-parenting may include your child celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah."

Quinn groaned. "I promised I'd go caroling with you, but I'm not going to sing any Driedel songs!"

"You won't sing any Driedel songs, you won't let me do any pre-baby tests; ugh, Quinn, you're no fun!" A few seconds after laughing at that, Quinn suddenly stopped and her eyes went wide. "What? Is it the baby?"

"I just peed my pants." This made Rachel laugh. "It's not funny!"

"Yes, it is!"

"I couldn't control it! Don't laugh at my misfortune." Rachel continued to laugh. Eventually, Quinn joined in the laughter. This went on for a few more moments before they calmed themselves. "Seriously though, could you get me some clean underwear?"

...

 _January, 2013 (Ohio)_

Rachel was attempting to sew a baby blanket when her phone rang. "Hello?"

" _Hello, Gorgeous_ ," one of her fathers (Leroy) greeted her on the other end.

"Hi, Daddy."

" _So listen, Papa and I did something we think you're going to appreciate_."

"Oh?"

 _"You may want to sit down for this, though."_

"I thought you said I'd like it?"

 _"There is a sort of preface to this surprise."_ Rachel set her sewing material aside. " _We got in touch with your mother."_

"My mother?"

 _"Shelby Corcoran, the woman who was our surrogate."_

"Shelby Corcoran the Broadway star? That's my mother?"

 _"Papa and I ran into her and she asked about you. We told her all about you and how you want to be a Broadway star,"_ Leroy took a deep breath. _"But that's not the exciting part."_

"There's something more exciting than you finding my _mother_?"

" _We showed her a video of you performing in_ Meet Me in St. Louis _and she cried when she saw you."_

Rachel, meanwhile, was trying not to do the same. "She did?"

 _"Baby, she's so proud of you."_ A few tears escaped Rachel. _"So proud, that she asked for a copy of the video so she can show it to the producer of the upcoming musical she's going to star in."_

That got Rachel to stop crying. "Are you serious?"

 _"She said it's not a main role, but it is a fairly big supporting role alongside her and a few other Broadway veterans."_ Rachel covered her mouth following an excited squeal. _"She booked you an audition for the twenty-fifth and your Papa and I got you a plane ticket for the twenty-third."_

"This is really happening, isn't it? A chance to be in a Broadway musical and I..." she choked up a little, "...I get to meet my _mom_."

 _"Looks like you're on your way to having your dreams come true, Sweetheart. I'll let you go now. Papa and I love you."_

"I love you too," Rachel waited for the line to disconnect before she let out a more louder squeal and danced around the room. As she danced, she noticed the blanket she had been attempting to sew and stopped in realization.

The twenty-third was when they were going to find out the sex of the baby.

"Everything okay?" Rachel jumped as she turned to see Quinn in the doorway. "I heard the squealing and the thumping."

"Quinn, I..." she sat back in her chair, "...I'm the worst friend ever."

"If this is about you eating the last cupcake, I forgave you for that."

"No, it's...I have to break my promise."

"What promise?"

"To be here for you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I just got off the phone with my Dad. He ran into my Mom."

"Your mom?"

"My mom's a famous Broadway star and she saw the video of me performing. She got me an audition for a supporting role in her new musical."

"Rachel, that's fantastic!"

"I leave for New York on the twenty-third."

"The twenty-third? That's the day we find out-"

"I break my promise and steal your thunder all at once." She couldn't read Quinn's face. "What are you thinking?"

"Well...first you obviously don't know what makes me mad." Rachel responded with a look of confusion and Quinn just smiled. "Rachel, I'm happy for you!" she gave her a proud hug.

"You don't think I'm being selfish?"

"Do I think you're being selfish? No. Am I bummed about you not being here? Yeah; but you have a whole nother life in New York. Since you came here, you kinda gave up your dreams. Now you have the opportunity to make your dreams a reality and I couldn't be prouder. It's not like we'll never see each other again. We'll still talk to each other, and I'm sure you can come down to visit or someone can drive me up to see you. I did promise I'd sit front row on your first opening night." Rachel laughed through a few tears. "I'm so happy for you!"

"What about you? You'll be alone."

"I'm never alone. You won't be here in person, but you'll still be here for me, and I have our friends."

"But who's going to help take care of you."

"My mother comes over anytime she can sneak away from Dad, Mercedes and Kurt always seem to drop everything to come hang out with me, and Puck's been sending me money to help pay my medical bills. I'll be fine."

"I'd just feel better if someone was here with you."

Quinn guided Rachel's hands to her slightly swollen stomach. "Someone is here with me." This got Rachel to smile. "And I promise, you'll still be the first to know whether baby Fabray is a boy or girl."

"I will?" Quinn nodded. "Thank you, Quinn." This time, Rachel hugged her friend.

"I'll try to pull a few strings and move up my appointment, okay?" Rachel nodded. "Let's go celebrate with some ice cream and a really cheesy romcom."

"Is there any other kind of celebration?"

...

Quinn had managed to secure an appointment for the twenty-first so that Rachel could be there for the big reveal—which Rachel seemed more excited about than Quinn. The night before, Rachel was too excited to sleep, so she didn't. The following morning, she spent hours searching for the "right" outfit. This was followed by two hours in the bathroom. By the time she had finished, Quinn had just woken up. "Bathroom's free!"

"I can see that," a groggy Quinn replied.

"Try not to take your time. I want to leave in the next half hour."

"The appointment's at ten, it's not even eight o'clock."

"I want to make sure we get there on time. Traffic can be unpredictable." Quinn slammed the door in Rachel's face. "Someone's not a morning person."

Once they did go to the doctor's, everyone stared at Rachel as if she had drank ten cups of coffee. She was bouncing and fidgeting in her seat, not keeping focus. When the nurse called for Quinn, Rachel was the first one up.

"This is my best friend Rachel," Quinn introduced. "She's here with me to find out the sex of the baby."

"Hi, I'm Rachel," Rachel excitedly shook the nurse's hand.

"Have a seat over there Rachel," the nurse instructed Rachel to sit on a stool beside the table before directing her attention to Quinn. "Go ahead and put on your gown. The doctor will be with you in a moment." The nurse left.

"Someone's serious," Rachel observed as Quinn took the gown from the back of the door.

"Could you curb your enthusiasm, please? You're just going to be sitting on a stool looking at a blurry image on a machine."

"A blurry image of my soon to be gender identified godchild! I've never come with you to these before, I get to see the baby and hear it's heartbeat instead of looking at some computer printed picture."

"If you're this way with _my_ pregnancy, I hate to imagine how you'll be with your own." Quinn noticed Rachel's face falter. "What?"

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to have children. It's not a definite no, but my doctors say it's highly unlikely." Rachel sighed. "I'll probably never get the chance to be a mother."

"Never say never Rachel." Quinn assured as she went to change. "Just because it's likely you'll have your own biological children doesn't mean you'll never be a mother."

"I wouldn't make a good mother anyway."

"Yes you would."

"How would I even find time with my busy career?"

"Sometimes you have such little faith in yourself," Quinn came out from behind the partition in the generic polka-dot hospital gown. "What do you think?" she pretended to model her outfit.

"Do they have one in my size?"

"Was that a subtle fat joke?"

"You're not fat, you're pregnant."

"Ugh, I hate hearing that."

The next thing they knew, the doctor had arrived. The "sourpuss" nurse (a term Rachel had thought up) followed her in with the ultrasound machine. The doctor asked Quinn the basic questions about her pregnancy before instructing her to lie back. Despite the doctor's warning that the gel was cold, Quinn still shuddered a little as it touched her bare stomach—which even made Rachel wince a little. Any worries soon disappeared though when Quinn and Rachel glanced at the screen. In addition to listening to the doctor say everything looked perfectly fine, they also listened to the heartbeat.

Then came the big question. "Would you like to know the-"

"YES!" Rachel's answer came out rather loudly, making both Quinn and the doctor laugh. "I mean, if it's okay with Quinn."

Quinn nodded to the doctor. "Yes, please."

Moving the wand to get better look, the doctor freeze framed at the more apt position. "See that Quinn?" she pointed to the still image of the unborn baby. "That's your daughter."

"It's a girl?" the doctor nodded to Quinn.

And Rachel's response was even louder than her first one.

But as the day went on, Rachel's excitement faded. Guilt started to creep in over the fact that no one would be there to help Quinn take care of her daughter—even if she wasn't born yet. Still, Rachel was convincing enough to prove nothing was out of the ordinary as she and Quinn enthusiastically talked over lunch. When Quinn got up for a(nother) bathroom break, Rachel took a deep breath and pulled out her phone. "Hi, it's me."

 _"Rachel?_ _"_ it was obvious the person on the other end wasn't expecting to hear from her.

"Listen, I really need to talk to you, but I don't have much time."

...

"...I have no idea how I'm going to decorate the baby's room," Quinn and Rachel were still discussing future baby plans as they arrived back at the beach house.

"Are you even going to be staying here when the baby's born?" Rachel inquired.

"I don't know," Quinn unlocked the door and went inside. "I don't think I'll be going back home anytime soon."

"Maybe you can move in with me?" Quinn was incredibly shocked to hear a different person respond to that.

"Noah?"

"Wow," Puck took a good look at her, "you've got a bump now."

"How did you get in my house?"

"Rachel told me where you hid the spare key." Quinn glared at Rachel, but Rachel only backed away.

"What are you doing here?"

"I had the day off. I thought I'd come by and give you this," he handed her a somewhat opened envelope with cash inside. "Plus, you know, I haven't really seen you in a while." Quinn pursed her lips. "Rachel called and told me she had to go back in New York and she asked if I could stay with you."

"Rachel did what?" Quinn was glaring at Rachel when she asked this.

"I give that chick serious credit; she's got guts. I've been wanting to talk to you, but you haven't really made the effort and I've been kinda afraid to make the first move."

"I don't want to be with you, Noah."

"I get that. I just thought that you'd want to live close to the hospital, and your friends, and your mom, and everything." She raised a brow to him. "My Mom helped me get an apartment. It's a two-bedroom, right in the middle of Lima. You can come stay with me for as long as you need to."

"That sounds like the definition of being with you."

"Not in a romantic way. Just...I'm not going to be like my father. I'm going to be there for you," he directed his attention to the bump, "and for it."

" _It_ is a she."

"Cool," Rachel couldn't help but notice how Puck looked when he said that.

"Noah, I appreciate the gesture, really, but..."

"I promise I won't try anything. I just want to help; to prove that I can be a good dad." Quinn started to cry. "What? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, it's these stupid hormones," Rachel could tell she was lying. Puck nervously shoved his hands in his pocket as he waited for a response. "You realize if I agree to this, you're going to have to make some changes."

"Uh...sure."

"And you're going to have to do everything I say."

"Don't I always?" he was gesturing to her swollen stomach.

Quinn groaned at him. "I'll have my things ready by Wednesday morning. I'll also expect you to come with me when Rachel goes to the airport."

"I work on Wednesday." She furrowed her brows. "I'll see if I can get someone to cover for me."

"Thank you."

He gave her a nod and headed for the front door. "I guess I'll see you Wednesday," he told her before he left.

A miffed looking Quinn turned to Rachel. "I should be mad at you."

"I didn't want you to be alone," Rachel defended. "He's the father of your daughter and he wants to help."

"I know and I want to hate him."

" _Want_ to?"

"I can't hate him for stepping up and taking responsibility. I guess a part of me was afraid of staying here alone. If something happens, at least he'll be there."

"Exactly! And I'll feel so much better knowing someone's here to help take care of you."

"Besides, it's not a good idea to live at the beach in winter."

…

"Please tell me that's everything," Puck pled as he loaded more heavy items onto the back of his truck.

"It's everything," Rachel assured.

"Hallelujah." He looked around. "Where's my baby mama; saying goodbye to the bathroom?"

"While I don't agree with your tactful choice of words, yes, Quinn is in the bathroom."

"No surprise: those dumb baby books said-"

"You read baby books?"

"I can read you know."

"I'm just surprise that you read those types of books."

"I gotta make sure Quinn doesn't do anything dumb so our kid doesn't come out all mutated or anything." Rachel couldn't help but notice his choice of pronoun in reference to the baby. He looked at his watch. "Geez, she might as well live in the bathroom," he opened the door to the driver's side and pressed his hand to the car horn. "HURRY UP IN THERE!"

"Patience is a virtue you know."

"Not necessarily at the airport." Puck went over and opened the passenger door. "You should probably get in since you'll be squished in the middle."

"I guess I should," Rachel got into the car.

"Hey listen, I really wanna thank you for what you did."

"You're welcome."

"No, I meant like…like _show_ you that I'm thankful. Is there anything I can do before you go? You want some veggie breakfast or something?"

"Quinn and I already ate."

"Figures." They both looked toward the house as Quinn came out. "Took you long enough. You fall in, in there?" She sneered at him as he helped her into the truck. Once she was in, Puck closed the door and headed for the driver's seat. "Are you ladies sure you have everything?" They both nodded. "Great," he started the car and headed for the airport. During the drive, he sat in irritated silence as Quinn and Rachel carried on rather annoying conversation. Eventually, he turned the radio on to rock.

"Excuse you," Quinn turned it off. "Rachel and I are having a conversation."

"Good for you," he turned the radio back on. "You two carry on your little gab session and I'll listen to the radio." She lowered the volume. "What the hell? I can barely hear it!"

"Good!" He turned the volume up. "Hey!"

"You said I had to listen to you when you moved in. Not only are you not moved in, but you'll be staying in my house, not my _car_. I can listen to my car stereo at whatever volume I want."

"God, you're such an asshole," Quinn leaned back in her seat with a huff.

"Why don't we all find a station we can agree on," Rachel switched to a station that played current pop. "Oh, I love this song!"

"Me too!"

"Hell no," Puck turned it back to rock.

Quinn turned it back to pop. "Majority rules; we're listening to this station."

Instead of turning it back and arguing, "My truck, my rules." Puck gave in. "Okay, fine, listen to your damn pop; just don't sing along."

The pop music was the only source of sound the rest of the drive to the airport. Once they were at Rachel's gate, the girls stood in front of the building while Puck got the luggage. "I'm sorry our drive to the airport wasn't more pleasant," Quinn was glaring toward Puck when she said that.

Rachel turned Quinn toward her. "Well then let's make these last few minutes pleasant. No bad karma please. After I'm gone; you can be as much of a bitch to him as you want and enjoy doing so."

"I do like bossing people around."

"I know." Quinn started tearing up. "Is it your hormones again?"

Despite the crying, Quinn couldn't help but laugh, "Partly," she tried to compose herself. "I'm really going to miss you, Rachel."

"I don't have to go back."

"Yes, you do. I'm not gonna be the reason you miss out on what you really want." Rachel nodded. "Come on," the girls put their arms around each other's back and walked to the terminal where Rachel's flight was now boarding.

Rachel sighed. "I guess this is it." Quinn bit her lip as the tears began to shed. "I'm really going to miss you too" the friends hugged. "I love you, Quinn."

"I love you too, Rach," the girls gave each other a goodbye kiss on the cheek. "Now go; live your dream."

Rachel smiled at her. "Oh," she acknowledged the person behind Quinn, "I should probably give you a proper goodbye too, Puck."

Puck shrugged. "Nah, you've done enough." He was taken aback when she gave him a fierce hug. "Uh…I guess I'll miss you too."

Rachel laughed as she pulled herself off of him. "Take good care of our girls."

'You know it." He gave Rachel a friendly handshake before going over to Quinn. Before boarding, Rachel gave them one last wave goodbye.

"Bye Rachel," Quinn somberly waved back.

"Goodbye," Rachel whispered to Quinn before handing the ticket agent her flight information and getting on the plane. And it was once Rachel was on the plane and in her seat, that's when she became a crying mess.

…

 _January, 2013 (New York)_

"When are you supposed to hear back about the role?" Hiram asked his daughter over a family dinner in Rachel's new apartment.

"I'm not sure," Rachel informed her fathers. "There are a few other potential candidates but Shelby thinks I'm guaranteed at least a callback. She is seriously lobbying for me to get the role."

"Which you deserve," Leroy agreed.

"Well they have to make a decision by February 8th—which is the Friday before official rehearsals start on the following Monday."

"They'd be fools not to choose you," what her daddy said stung Rachel a little because she remembered a similar sounding assurance about her getting into NYADA.

"God, I hope I get this."

"You will."

"I hate to be Mr. Negative here," Hiram began, "but what if you don't? Then what are you going to do?"

"Hiram, really?"

"She was planning on going to NYADA before this whole baby thing happened with her friend. I want to know if she still wants to go to NYADA."

"So ask her if she wants to go."

"Rachel, do you still want to go to NYADA."

Rachel let out a small giggle. "Honestly, I'm not sure anymore. If I don't get the role for the show, I'm probably going to go back to Lima and be there for Quinn and the baby. I know I'm at least going to Lima for the birth of my goddaughter."

"Are you going to be in the delivery room with Quinn?" Leroy inquired.

"She wants me to be. I told her I'm a little uncomfortable with it, but if she wants me to be in there with her, I'm not gonna deny her that request." Rachel's phone buzzed. "Speaking of…" she looked at the screen. "Puck?"

"Sorry, what?" Hiram assumed the 'P' was an 'F'.

" _Puck_ ," Rachel stretched out his name. "Puck is the name of Quinn's baby daddy. I just got a text from him of all people." She read his message.

 _Surprise! I think I found a way to thank you._

As if on cue, there was a knock at Rachel's door. "Expecting someone?" Leroy asked.

"Puck said he found a way to thank me." Another knock. "You don't think he and Quinn drove up here?"

"Only one way to find out," Hiram nodded toward the door.

Rachel anxiously stood up and smoothed out her dress before answering the door. Sure enough, Rachel was surprised. "Hi, Rachel."

"Finn?" she struggled to form words. "Wha-what are you doing here?"

"It was Puck's idea. He called to apologize and tell me what happened with you coming back to New York."

"Did Quinn tell you where to find me?"

"She actually doesn't know. Puck stole your address from her and told me where to find you."

"You wanted to find me?"

"Yeah," he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "I missed you. When he told me where you were, I took the first flight out to New York I could get."

"You did that just to see me?"

"Rachel, I do have feelings for you. I just couldn't act on them because I was with Quinn. Now that I'm not…" he didn't know what to say. "…I did tell you I cared about you."

"You did?"

"Well you were kinda drunk when I did." Rachel blushed a little. "I told you I cared about you and that if I wasn't with Quinn I could see us getting together. I've had a lot of time to think and-" Rachel cut him off by pulling him down for a fiery, passionate kiss. "Wow!"

"Ahem," the clearing of Hiram's throat made Finn and Rachel turn toward Rachel's fathers. "Should we give you two some privacy?"

* * *

 **I decided it was best to stop there. If I planned this out correctly, the next chapter will showcase Finn and Rachel together and end with a major, life-changing event that I actually hinted at in the very beginning.**


	8. Crashing Down (2013)

**For whatever reason—and despite my constant reuploading—FF took forever in posting the last chapter. Though I wouldn't be surprised if it hasn't been made available yet either. I tried to rush out a chapter 8 thinking maybe if I uploaded 8 then 7 would show up; but I didn't have the time to be on my computer by the time the site finally uploaded the last chapter. I just wanted to clear that up in case some people get two new chapters instead of one.**

 **Anywho, here's the next part.**

* * *

 _February, 2013_

The taxi carrying Rachel and Finn pulled up to its destination. "This is it," Rachel stared at the theatre. "Final callbacks." She turned to Finn and squeezed hand. "Thanks for coming with me by the way."

"Are you kidding?" he had that goofy grin on his face that Rachel loved. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Rachel paid the cabbie and got out of the car. "I didn't know you were a musical theatre connoisseur."

"Um…sure," it was obvious he didn't know what she meant, "but I'm really here to watch you sing."

"And it has absolutely nothing to do with meeting famous Broadway stars?"

"I wouldn't know who the famous Broadway stars are, to be honest. Well, except you."

"That's sweet, but I'm not a famous Broadway star."

His smile was sincere. "Not yet. You're gonna be a famous Broadway star, and I'm gonna be your super supportive boyfriend."

"Aww," Rachel wrapped her arms around his waist.

"It feels kinda weird saying you're my girlfriend." He noticed her expression start to change. "Good weird!" He quickly defended. "I mean one minute we meet, we become friends, I cut all my friends out of my life, then I spend money I should be saving to fly out to where you are to tell you that I like you too, and next thing I know I'm temporarily living with you and we're apparently dating even though we've never been on a real romantic type date."

"Some times great things happen all at once." she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. "You are a great thing, Finn Hudson."

"I was told that when you've got something really great," he pulled her into a tight embrace, "you hold onto it and never let it go."

Rachel pouted. "I wish you didn't have to go back next month."

"I can't afford to stay in New York. Plus my life is back in Ohio. I've been doing good keeping in touch with all my friends again. Oh, and I just have to pass one more test before I get my driver's license!"

"When you say friends, does that include Puck?" Finn blew out a breath. "He was your best friend."

"He still is. I mean, yeah, I'm mad at him and Quinn for what they did; but all that time I had alone made me realize I didn't love really love Quinn and that I did have feelings for you. Looking back, I think maybe Puck might've liked Quinn too, but I can never tell when a guy likes a girl unless he comes out and says 'hey I like this girl'—or guy for Kurt's case."

"You mentioned how you were talking to everyone else besides Quinn and Puck; so why didn't you reach out to me?"

"For starters, because I didn't want to see Quinn and you were always with her."

"Fair enough."

"And two was that I didn't think I was ready for another relationship. I had to take time to figure things out and determine if my feelings for you were real."

"I'm glad they were."

"I'm glad they _are_." He kissed the top of her head as she nuzzled herself into his embrace. "I've had a lot of time to think about what I want out of life. Did I tell you I decided I want to be a teacher?"

"You'd make a great teacher."

"I know what I want in life now. I want to go to college, become a teacher, get married, have a family of my own, and just be..."

"Just be what?"

"Happy. Not satisfied, not content, I want to be genuinely happy."

"I want that for you," she took his hands in hers as they entered the auditorium.

"What do you want for your future, Rachel?"

She looked toward the stage. "I want it all."

"What's _all_?"

"I'm not sure. Life is always changing, constantly surprising you. I don't know all that I want out of life. All I do know is I want to be a famous Broadway actress-"

"And you're going to be."

She smiled before continuing, "-but I don't know if I can have the marriage and the family if I focus on my career aspirations. Heck, I may even miss out on what I really want and not know it until it's too late." She took a moment to breathe. "That's what I'm most afraid of."

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Don't think like that, okay. Look to the future, but live in the now."

"Finn, that's really beautiful."

"Thanks, I read it off a fortune cookie. They write a lot of deep stuff on those things." He started laughing. "Although one time my fortune said 'help, I'm trapped in a fortune cookie warehouse'," he laughed at what he remembered.

"You have a weird sense of humor sometimes." Rachel noticed Shelby wave to her from the stage. "Okay, so I have to go warm up before performing. Sit wherever you want and I'll see you later."

"Break a leg."

"Listen to you properly using theatre talk. I'm so proud," she gave him a quick kiss before hurrying to the stage. "I'm gonna go warm up," she informed Shelby.

"Rachel," Shelby stopped her, "I don't know if they told you: but you'll be reading scenes today too."

"What?"

"One of the two candidates for your love interest dropped out so we casted that role with the other guy. The director wants to do a chemistry test with him and the other girls testing for your role. I just wanted to let you know ahead of time."

"I figured we'd be reading scenes but no one told me any definite casting decisions had been made except for yours."

"We only had two prospects and one of them took a role in a different show. We're gonna make a big announcement after you and the other girls sing and then you'll test with-" they were interrupted by the stage manager tapping Shelby's shoulder and gesturing for her to follow. "Go warm up; I know you're gonna do fantastic. Break a leg!"

While Rachel was pleased from the encouragement of her dads, her mother, and her boyfriend, she still felt unsure. Checking her messages, she saw more encouraging affirmations from her friends in Lima.

Well, most of her friends. By the time Rachel had finished warm-ups, she still hadn't heard from her best friend. When it came time for the singing auditions, Rachel peeked into the audience hoping Finn would see her, but he was texting. Someone who did see Rachel was Shelby. Shelby gave Rachel a smile before the buzzing of Rachel's phone distracted her. Was Finn texting her?

 _Rachel, I wanted 2 make sure I was the last 2 wish u all the best. Ur gonna get it, ur gonna b awesome, & I couldn't b happier 4 u. Lots of luv- Q_

Turns out, that was what Rachel needed to ensure everything was going to be okay. Fighting back tears, she swallowed the lump in her throat, and proudly walked onstage after they called her name. She introduced herself, sang her song (" _What I Did for Love_ "), and gave a humble curtsy before heading backstage with the other candidates. In the end, it really didn't matter whether or not she got the role. She had her friends, her family, and things seemed to be falling perfectly in place for her.

"Ladies!" that was a cue for Rachel and the other contenders to appear on stage. She noticed Shelby was entering the theatre leading someone in while the director was talking. "You've survived the singing part, and now we're going to focus on the acting part," he began passing out little scripts. "For this, we are going to test your chemistry with your romantic co-star. I'd like to introduce you to him now." Rachel's eyes went wide as he stepped onto the stage. "I'd like to formerly introduce you to your potential co-star, Mr. Jesse St. James."

Now a bigger part of Rachel was hoping she didn't get the role.

"I want to say 'break a leg' to all you ladies," Jesse looked at Rachel, "and may the best woman win."

"Cocky bastard," Rachel muttered under her breath.

"We're gonna do the garden scene on page thirty-nine," the director explained to Jesse before turning back to the girls. "Rachel, let's start with you."

 _Anything to get this over with._ "Yes, sir!" Rachel stepped toward Jesse. "Hello Jesse."

"Rachel," Jesse snarked back as the director left the stage. "I'm surprised to see you here—and not just because you're not talented enough to be on Broadway." Rachel glowered at him. "It's just the last I heard you went to Ohio to play house with your girlfriend."

"I went to Ohio to visit my best friend and I stayed a little longer than I expected. I needed to take a little time for myself before resurrecting my performing career."

"And you coming back has nothing to do with your mom getting you an audition?" As she opened her mouth, he cut her off with, "Shelby and I have maintained a friendly relationship following her years as my vocal tutor. I learned this little nugget of information through a friendly conversation. Oh, and you're not the only one she suggested for a role in the musical, Dollface," he had used the nickname Shelby had called her on a few occasions.

But before Rachel could let that sink in, the director began instructing them where to start in the scene. He gave the scenario, the setting, the characters, and the motivation before instructing them with, "Go", and Rachel pretended to harbor any romantic (or even any positive) feelings for Jesse.

When she was done, she hurried off the stage and to the audience where Finn was waiting. "Let's go," she pulled him by the arm out of the audience.

"Uh..." Finn was confused by her mood change, "...is everything okay?"

"I hate him!"

"The director?"

"Jesse St. James."

"You mean the guy you were acting with?"

"I hate him! I've hated him ever since we were little and I hate him even more now!"

"I kinda bought that you were really into him when you did that little scene."

"That was acting, Finn. An actor always knows when to put on a show. You know what: I don't care if I get the role or not. If I do, great. If I don't, that's also great."

"How?"

"Because I won't have to deal with _him_! If I got this role, I'd have to spend months rehearsing with him and then act as though I love him eight times a week."

"But there's only seven days in a week."

Rachel ignored him. "I'll have to put him with him always criticizing and talking down to me. Then there's the fact that he thinks he's better than everyone else! UGH!" she kicked the wall. "I HATE HIM!" She took out her phone.

"Who are you-"

"Shush." she waited for the person on the other end of the phone to answer, but they didn't. "I'll have to talk to her over Skype."

"Who, Quinn?"

"She's the only one who understands my hatred of Jesse St. James."

...

Quinn made a disgusted face as the girls chatted over Skype later. "Ugh, really?"

"I hate him!" Rachel continued to make that point clear. "And what's worse is he's known my mother longer than I have and she recommended him for the role."

"What?"

"She used to be his vocal coach and they're still friends apparently. Though I don't see how Jesse St. James can have any friends," that part made Quinn giggle. "I couldn't wait to talk to you about this. I knew you'd understand what I'm dealing with with Jesse."

Quinn nodded. "I can totally relate to your situation right now; about dealing with irritating assholes."

"How?"

"Rachel, I'm living with Noah Puckerman. He happens to be one of the few people I can't stand."

"Maybe you'll change your mind about him."

"I doubt it. Although..." Quinn stopped, "...no."

"What?"

"I can't say.

"Yes you can."

"It's too embarrassing."

"Tell me!"

"Fine," Quinn relented. "Let me preface this by saying there are some aspects of my pregnancy that are out of my control."

"Okay."

Quinn sighed before mumbling, "IhadsexwithPuck."

"Um, could you repeat that last part? Because it sounded like you said you had sex with Puck."

"She did!" Finn called from the living room.

"Finn!" both Rachel and Quinn didn't appreciate him listening in.

"Puck told me about it earlier."

"Private conversation, go to my room!" Finn did as he was told. "So what's wrong with you having sex with the father of your child?"

"I have a strong dislike for Puck just as much as you do for Jesse."

"Okay, I always use the word 'hate'. You said 'dislike'."

"A part of me does like Puck a little; but only a little. It's just my hormones are all out of whack and I was really, _really_ horny."

"Am I to assume that _you_ came onto _him_?"

"And the fact that he turned me down made me want him even more."

"Puck turned down sex? With you?"

"He didn't want to hurt the baby."

"Awww."

"Don't swoon! I made it perfectly clear what we did meant nothing and it wasn't me, it was my hormones."

"Sure it was."

"Just because we have a child together, doesn't mean Puck and I are gonna end up together."

"We'll see."

"So what's this I hear about Finn moving in with you?"

"Finn hasn't moved in with me. He's just staying with me in my apartment until he goes back to Lima."

"Are you going back with him?"

"Not if I get the part. I have to stay in New York if I get the part."

"I know it's none of my business; but I think you and Finn may be moving too fast. And lately every time we talk it's some new romantic milestone with him. Evidently you guys haven't been on a romantic date yet?"

"How do you-"

"Finn tells Puck, Puck tells me."

"Figures."

"Plus _you_ haven't told me anything about a romantic date either. Whenever you do anything close to romantic you told me it feels like you're hanging out."

"Boyfriends and girlfriends just hang out."

"Have you slept with him yet?"

"I don't think that's any of your business!"

"So, no?" Rachel didn't respond right away. "You would have told me if you did."

"Okay, yeah, fair point."

"I know I said that your relationship with Finn is none of my business; but at least consider what I'm saying."

"You know: today he told me that our time apart made him realize his feelings for me and what he wants out of life. I think that might of been a sort of build up to him telling me he loves me."

"Rachel-"

"You might not like it when things move fast, but I do. And my relationship with the ex who's heart you broke is none of your business." Quinn looked slightly offended. "I think I'm going to go to bed now; I'm expecting an important call tomorrow morning," Rachel ended the conversation and carried her laptop from the kitchen to the bedroom.

Finn was sitting on the bed watching TV when Rachel came into the room looking somewhat pensive. "You okay?"

"I think Quinn and I just had a fight."

"What about?"

"I don't want to talk about it." she got into bed with him. "I'm going to go to bed."

"Okay, night Rachel."

"Night Finn," they gave each other a small kiss goodnight. But then Rachel went in for another, lingering kiss.

"Wow."

"I love you, Finn Hudson."

He smiled that dopey smile. "Cool."

Her face faltered. "That's it? No 'I love you too'?"

"I do love you too."

"I want to hear you say it."

"I just did."

"Well the mood is dead," she turned off her light. "Goodnight, Finn." She rolled onto her side leaving Finn sitting upright in bed confused.

...

"Morning," Finn greeted Rachel when she woke up. Rachel said nothing and went to make herself breakfast. "Are we going to talk about last night?"

"What about last night?" she bitterly questioned back.

"We said we loved each other, but you seemed kinda pissed about it."

"No Finn, I was the one who professed their love. I believe your exact words were, 'cool'," she deepened her voice to mock the way he said it.

"And then you asked me to say it back and I did!"

"It didn't sound like you meant it."

"What was it supposed to sound like?"

"I don't know!" they both stopped what we were doing. "Quinn and I got into a disagreement over our relationship."

"Yours and hers or yours and mine?"

"Yours and mine."

"Okay."

"She said we were moving too fast."

"Well, yeah, we are."

"You agree with her?"

"But she probably told you like she was worried or upset or something. I'm glad this is moving fast."

"You are?"

"Before the whole 'babygate' thing," he noticed Rachel's confused expressions, "that's what Mercedes called the thing with Quinn's pregnancy."

"Ah."

"I was honestly kind of excited to be a dad. I know we're still pretty young, but having kids was bound to happen sooner or later, right?"

"I suppose."

"Get in as much life experience as you can. If you can accomplish all that you want to do as soon as possible, that would be so awesome. Then you'd have time to sit back and enjoy everything or maybe find more things you can do." They stared at each other before Rachel's phone disrupted the peace. "You should probably-"

"Yeah," she nodded before answering her phone. "Hello? Yes this is Rachel Berry?" Finn watched Rachel's face as the phone call transpired. "Yes, thank you," she hung up her phone.

"Rachel?" he couldn't read her expression.

"I got the role."

His face broke into a wide grin. "You got the role?"

"I got the role!" Excited, Finn picked her up in his arms and spun her around, giving her a passionate kiss before setting her down. "I'm going to be on Broadway."

"I'm so proud of you!" he hugged her. "We should celebrate."

"Celebrate? No, I have to tell everybody," before she was fully in her bedroom, she turned back at the doorway and said, "then we can celebrate."

They did so with a romantic date at a restaurant, and then a romantic night in bed.

...

Of course everyone was happy for Rachel. They were also curious as to what went on in the life of a Broadway star so she decided to start filming short videos for everyone and upload them on her social media for them to see. While her videos were mostly rehearsals, her social media text posts usually had to do with Finn.

The most recent of the posts announced their engagement.

It had happened as the days drew nearer to March. Finn had reminded Rachel that he had to go home soon. Before Rachel could become upset, he came up with the idea that they should get married the day before he left and when she was done with the show, they'd have an official wedding. Her friends and family offered their congratulations and said they were okay with it.

With the exception of one.

"I think you're making a mistake marrying Finn," Quinn had told her over the phone.

"Like how you made a mistake cheating on him with his best friend and ending up pregnant?" Rachel had reminded her. "Honestly Quinn you can be the worst kind of hypocrite."

That was the last conversation they had had.

So on the day Rachel and Finn married at City Hall, Rachel wasn't saddened by the absence of her best friend. This was a good thing, she was happy, and nothing was going to take that happiness away from her.

...

 _March, 2013_

Rachel strengthened her embrace against her husband. "I wish you didn't have to go back."

He gave her a kiss atop her head. "I wish you could come with me."

"I know you're coming back for opening night, but can you come back before that so we can have more time together?" He nodded. "Promise?"

"Promise." They kissed each other one more time before he boarded the plane. "I love you."

"Love you," she waved back as she sadly watched him leave. Throughout the taxi ride home she fiddled with the "wedding ring" she wore on her left ring finger. He didn't have an official ring and got her the first one he could find on short notice—which happened to have been a plastic, purple butterfly ring from a cupcake he bought before they married. It wasn't much, but it was something she was going to treasure for the rest of her life.

...

On the Ides of March, Rachel woke up with the feeling something was wrong. The feeling went away when she got ready for rehearsals, but eventually, it came back.

"Are you okay, Dollface?" Shelby had asked her. "You seem kinda off."

"You ever have the feeling that something's wrong?" Rachel asked her mother. "Like you know nothing is wrong but..."

"Has something happened?"

"I don't know."

Shelby led her to the dressing room. "Maybe you should check your phone."

Rachel took out her phone. She had a series of missed calls. Eerily enough, her phone began to ring. She checked the caller ID.

 _Quinn_

Rachel nervously answered the phone. "Quinn?"

 _"Rachel, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"_ Quinn was wracked with sobs.

"Quinn? Is everything okay? What's wrong? Is it the baby?"

Quinn could hardly speak. " _I can't do this_ ,"

"Quinn, what's going on?"

The stage manager knocked on the dressing room door. "Rachel, you have a phone call from one of your fathers. He says it's urgent."

"Quinn, I'll call you back," Rachel hung up her phone and followed the stage manager. "Hello?"

" _Rachel, it's Papa_ ," Hiram was on the other end.

"Papa, what's going on?"

" _Something.._." he sounded choked up too. "...s _omething happened to Finn_."

Rachel's heart sank. "Finn?"

" _He was driving home when he lost control of the car and crashed_."

"Is he okay?"

Rachel already knew the answer in the breath her Papa took. " _He died instantly_."

"No." Rachel refused to believe it.

" _Sweetie, I'm so sorry_."

"No!"

" _Rachel, we_ -"

"HE'S NOT DEAD!" Rachel repeatedly slammed the phone before falling to her knees and sobbing. Repeating the word 'no' over and over.

...

Quinn knocked on Puck's bedroom door. "Puck?" He didn't answer. "Puck, you can talk to me." No response. "You have to come out of that room sometime," she went back into her bedroom to find an outfit for the upcoming funeral. That's when there was a knock at the main door. "Great," with Quinn's luck it was probably Puck's mother; a frequent visitor who tried to offer "motherly advice". Peering out the peephole, she was surprised to discover that his mother wasn't on the other side. "Rachel?" she asked herself before answering the door.

Sure enough, a puffy eyed Rachel was standing there with luggage. "I...I didn't know who else to come to."

"So you came to me?" Rachel nodded. "Why?"

"I just lost the love of my life. I can't lose my best friend too."

Tears started to pool in two sets of eyes. "Oh Rachel, I'm sorry," the girls flung themselves at each other. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Rachel was the first to pull away. "We can't control what happens in life."

"But the things I said about-"

"There's no since dwelling on what happened. Nothing we can say or do will bring him back."

A sobbing Quinn nodded. "Despite the circumstances, I am glad to see you. I missed you."

"I missed you too. And I really, _really_ need my best friend right now."

"I'm here," Quinn pulled her in for another hug. "I'm always here for you, Rachel."

* * *

 **I don't blame you if you're not surprised with this. I did give hint at it in the prologue.**

 _ **...with a free hand, she clasped the necklace around her neck bearing the name of her departed first love**_

 **So if you want to look for some more little clues to what will or what has happened, feel free to. I actually was trying to use that technique—whether I use it well or not, I can't be the judge.**

 **And I guess I'm sorry for killing Finn, but I had to do it. However, he remains alive in another** _ **Glee**_ **story I'm currently working on if anyone wants to check out that shameful plug (it's a Klaine story btw).**


	9. Beth (2013)

**If you were nice enough to stick around after what happened, I promise this chapter will be somewhat less upsetting.**

* * *

 _March, 2013_

Quinn pounded on Puck's door. "You're being an unreasonable prick, you prick!" She stormed to the living room where Rachel waited. "You'll have to forgive Mr. Puckerman for not putting in an appearance," she rather bitingly told her. "It appears he's taking residence in his room."

"He just lost his best friend Quinn," Rachel gently reminded. "I can't imagine the grief he must be going through."

"What about your grief? Finn was your husband."

"For less than a month. God I've only known Finn less than a year; Puck pretty much knew Finn their whole lives. You honestly can't tell me you'd do what Puck is doing if something happened to me?"

"Don't think like that, Rachel."

"Death brings out that kind of thinking; something we need to acknowledge."

"Yeah, but at least you're not hiding; you're talking about it, you're letting people be there for you, and you've somehow managed not to cry in front of everyone."

"It kind of comes natural. I was raised to be strong in the face of moments like these. Being strong shows everyone else it's going to be okay, because you're okay."

"It's okay not to be okay. When you show that, it shows you're human."

"Finn would have probably given a philosophical lesson like that and then end with a dumb observation he'd think is funny." Rachel let out a ragged breath clearly about to lose it. "I didn't realize how much I'd miss it." As Quinn went to wrap herself around Rachel, Rachel stood up. "I'm just going to step outside for some air."

"You want some company?"

"No," Rachel declined Quinn's offer. "I think I'll go for a little walk around the city just to clear my head." She put on her coat. "You don't have to wait up for me or anything."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," as soon as her scarf was on, Rachel was out the door. Sure enough, she took a walk around Lima basking in the sights, the sounds, the smells, and choosing not to answer any calls or talk to anyone she knew. She needed this time alone. It gave her a clear idea of what she had to do when she returned.

She came back to the apartment a little after dark. Quinn had fallen asleep on the couch, and Rachel wasn't going to disturb her. As quiet as she could, she knocked on Puck's door. "It's me." No response. "I was…I was out for a walk and I realized…" she had a hard time getting the words out, "…I realized there's so much I don't know about my husband. So I was hoping I could learn what I need to know from his best friend." She could hear some sort of noise coming from his room. "I understand if you don't want to talk. I'll give you your-" Puck opened the door. He looked disheveled and he had obviously been crying. They had no need for verbal communication as Rachel cautiously went in for a hug. And when he started to cry, that's when Rachel did too. They stayed like that for a while until she pulled away. "Is it okay if I-" he nodded. "I'm going to leave the door open though."

"I…" his voice was hoarse, "…I don't want Quinn to see me like this. She's already enough of an emotional mess thanks to her baby hormones."

Rachel couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "We'll close it part way," she decided as he allowed her into his room. "I can't imagine what you're going through."

"Me? You were his wife."

"I've gotten enough sympathy already, Puck; I seriously doubt you have."

"I don't know why it bothers me as much as it does. He was my bro, I was one of the people who knew him best, but no one's gonna care about how this makes me feel because of who I am and what I've done."

"I care."

"Thanks."

"On my walk I was thinking about what kind of music they'll play at his memorial when it hit me: I don't know what kind of music he likes. There was still so much to learn about him and I thought we'd have time…" her sobbing stopped her from continuing on. Not knowing what to do, Puck just gave Rachel a comforting back rub. "I'm sorry," Rachel up straight and wiped her eyes.

"Don't be. I miss him too," she looked into Puck's sincere eyes. "Let's miss him together, okay?" Rachel nodded. "I'm gonna start by saying the dude liked a lot of music, 80's and 90's rock especially, because he grew up with it, you know?" Another nod. "If he wasn't jamming out to those songs whenever he was in a funk, he'd be unleashing his inner bad ass playing _C.O.D_."

" _C.O.D_?"

" _Call of Duty_ ; it's a video game" He showed her the game. "You wanna play?"

"I'm…I'm not very good at video games."

"So? Don't play to be good; play it to have fun," he passed her a game controller. "Finn wasn't that good either, he just liked to think he was," this got them both to let out a small laugh.

"Thanks Puck."

"I'll crank down some tunes while we play."

"Crank _down_? Isn't it crank _up_?"

"I gotta keep the volume low so I don't wake up sleeping beauty in there," Rachel heard him comment, "It's like unleashing the Krakken," as he put a CD in his stereo. "Get a little Springsteen up in here."

"Did Finn like Bruce Springsteen?"

"Yeah, but not as much as me. That CD, the one I just put in, Finn gave it to me one day. It wasn't my birthday or anything special he just gave it to me for no reason and said 'that's what friends do'." He sighed. "And despite all the shit I've put him through; he was willing to forgive me," Puck snapped his fingers, "just like that."

"At least you two settled your differences before he…" Rachel wasn't going to use that word.

"And you got to marry him." Rachel nodded. "You know, the last time Finn and I were together, we hung out at his place. Just us dudes playin' _C.O.D_ and piggin' out on our favorite snacks…" there was a pause. "…that's when I told him I wanted him to be my daughter's godfather." Puck was crying again.

"Oh, Puck."

"My daughter is never gonna know how awesome her godfather is." She couldn't help but notice he didn't use the word _was_. "The last memory I have of Finn was him so pumped about wanting to meet his future goddaughter. And now…" he couldn't finish.

Rachel set the control aside and put her arm around Puck's shoulder. "She'll know. We'll remind her how wonderful her godfather is." Puck nodded through his tears. "Music does seem to help people when times are tough," she gestured to his guitar. "Think we can jam to some of his favorites?"

Puck let out a disbelieved laugh. "I doubt you'll even know most of his favorites."

"Just because I love musicals doesn't mean I listen only to show tunes or soundtracks. If you recall our last drive together I did say I enjoyed the pop song you let us listen to."

"I remember."

"But I did like that rock song you were trying to listen to before Quinn changed it. Granted I didn't like it as much as Madonna, but I liked it." She began to sing Weezer's ' _Buddy Holly_ ' and eventually Puck joined in on background. When they finished after the first chorus, she flashed him an _'I told you so'_ type smile.

"I gotta say Berry, I am impressed."

"Did Finn like that song?" Puck shrugged. "What are some songs he did like? Ones that might surprise me."

He thought about that. "We liked Simon and what's his name."

"Garfunkel?"

Puck gave an immature laugh. "And I thought my last name sucked."

"How come you remember Simon's name?"

"His Mom was a Paul Simon fan. I'd go over to his house and we listen to a lot of Paul Simon."

"Do you know ' _Homeward Bound_ '?"

After he nodded, Puck began to sing, Rachel joining in shortly after. They spent the night in his room reminiscing about Finn and taking breaks to sing his favorite songs. They were having a discussion about KISS when Quinn woke up to go to the bathroom. She was alerted to activity from her roommate when she heard his guitar start to play the opening of one of the band's songs. When she was finished in the bathroom, she decided to investigate. Pushing the partially closed door open, she saw her roommate and her best friend sitting on the floor of his room singing _'Beth_ '—Puck taking the first verse, Rachel taking the second. As she watched this sight unfold, the baby started to become active. Quinn proceeded to watch this interaction with her palm across her stomach and tears pooling in her eyes.

"Hi," Rachel was the first to notice her. "We didn't wake you did we?"

Quinn shook her head no before entering Puck's room. "What are you doing?"

"We were reminiscing about Finn; singing some of his favorite songs. It's a good form of therapy." She noticed Quinn's tears. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Quinn was smiling. "While you guys were singing, she moved." Rachel gasped in excitement.

"Who moved?" Puck genuinely did not know what she meant.

Of course Quinn laughed at that. "The baby."

"She did?"

Quinn nodded. "She stopped now, but she got like super active when you guys were singing that song."

"Maybe it's a sign."

"What is?"

"That the baby gave a response to that song. I think maybe that's like a sign or something." Quinn stared at him. "Maybe you should name her Beth."

"Beth?" Quinn tried the name on her tongue. "Beth." A nod. "Noah Puckerman: we've just named our daughter. Beth."

Puck grinned. "Cool."

Quinn turned to Rachel. "Rachel, if you don't mind, I'd like to spend some alone time Puck."

Puck knew where this was going and tried to protest. "What? Now? Come on, Q, I'm tired."

Rachel took the hint. "I'll leave you two alone," she closed the door behind her as she left. Walking to the living room, she looked up to the heavens. She wasn't always a spiritual person, but she knew that Finn was sending them a sign. With a smile, she sat down on the couch and turned on the television to drown out the noise.

…

Rachel slept on an air mattress in Quinn's room for the rest of her trip. On her last night in Ohio, she lay awake on the mattress unable to sleep. It wasn't that it was uncomfortable (it honestly wasn't that bad), but much like the nights before Finn's memorial service and funeral, her emotions/anticipation/feelings were preventing her from getting a good night's sleep.

"Rachel," Quinn knew her friend was awake, "I missed this."

Rachel didn't understand. "Missed what?"

"Us. The two of us together under the same roof."

"It's only temporary."

"I know, but it's just a really comforting feeling." she sighed. "Next time you come here, we'll have the baby's stuff up and ready."

"Is it all gonna fit?"

"We'll make it fit. Keep in mind this is the master bedroom and if I have to share my room, I'd rather share it with my baby than with Puck. This living situation is temporary for me too."

"You're not going to stay with Puck?"

"Not forever. I'll stay close to him for Beth's sake, but I don't know if I can live with him. But I have to admit, he's gonna be a big help watching the baby when I go back to college."

"You're going back to college?"

"I want to be a teacher."

Rachel tried not to choke up. "Finn wanted to be a teacher."

"That's how I got the idea. When his mom read Finn's dreams of the future at his service I was awed when she said he wanted to be a teacher. I had no idea why, so I thought about why he would want to be a teacher. After I did...I decided teaching was something I could see myself doing."

"You'd make a great teacher, Quinn."

"You and I, we make an interesting pair of friends; the teacher and the Broadway star."

"I'm not-"

"You will be. You're going to go back to New York, do the show, you're going to be a hit, and everyone's gonna want you for their show. I just wish I could be there to see your first show."

"Me too."

"You know: I can understand if you don't want to be in the delivery room when I have the baby. Or even if you want to go back to New York. The show must go on and everything."

"The show opens the last week of April, I perform the entire month of May, and the director let me have vacation for the first half of June. So unless you have the baby in May or late June, I promise I'll be in the delivery room when you bring Beth into the world."

"Do you think you can handle it? You get uncomfortable with blood and hospitals and medical stuff."

"I'll just make sure I stay near your head. You want me there, I told you I was going to be there, and I'll be there."

...

 _June, 2013_

When Rachel came back to the apartment on the fourth of June, the first thing she did was hurry to see what Quinn's room looked like. "Oh my God," she breathed as she saw it for the first time. "This is so cute!"

"It should be, Kurt designed it," a very pregnant Quinn explained as she sat on the bed. "The only drawback was there'd be no room for your air mattress."

"Are we sharing a bed?"

Quinn laughed. "No, Puck's setting up the mattress in the living room. That way the baby'll less of an inconvenience for you if you're trying to sleep."

"Oh."

"And look," Quinn opened a drawer on her nightstand and held up a pink outfit, "this is what she's gonna wear when we bring her home."

"Aww, it's so adorable."

"Isn't it? So much more adorable than the 'Daddy's Little Badass' outfit Puck suggested."

Rachel laughed. "What? Na-uh! There's no way that outfit exists." Quinn went to the closet and pulled out the outfit, which made Rachel laugh even harder. "Who gave you that outfit?"

"Puck's half-brother. Jake shows up after school one day with something he got for his niece. He had it done at some T-Shirt designing place at the mall. Of course Puck thought it was cool."

"The hot pink lettering on the black color is cute."

"I want to get rid of it so bad, but it's a gift from family. I mean, would you want your baby wearing an outfit that included the word 'ass' on it?"

"I've seen more inappropriate baby wear in New York, trust me." She sat beside Quinn on the bed. "And here," she took a DVD out of her purse and passed it to Quinn, "I paid someone to record the first show for you."

"Aww," Quinn hugged her friend, "you are too awesome. Now I get to see 'Broadway's Breakout Babe' in action."

"Ugh, I hate that title. Jacob Ben Israel is just a glorified paparazzo and not a certified columnist."

"But he's not the only one who praised you. I think they're really gonna miss you when you're gone."

"Well boo-hoo for them. My best friend is having a baby and I promised I'd be there."

"It's not too late for you to change your mind about going in there. Even Puck's kinda nervous about going in."

"I want to see you bring my goddaughter into the world."

"But it's not gonna be like the births we see on rom-coms or _Lifetime_ movies."

"I watched _Knocked Up_ with you, didn't I?"

"You had your eyes covered the entire birth scene."

"Let's not talk about that. I told you I'm going to be there and that's final."

"Okay."

"And if you'll let me," Rachel reached for something in her purse, "I believe you requested for me to paint your toenails when I arrived."

"Please." Quinn picked up a pillow. "I know I can't see my feet but that doesn't mean other people can't. I want something to look nice. Help me up; we're gonna do this in the living room so we can watch TV."

"Alright," Rachel helped Quinn off the bed and followed her into the living room.

"I thought we could watch something a little old school tonight."

"Oh?"

Quinn held up her DVD of _The Little Mermaid_. "You have to admit, it is a romantic comedy."

"Yes, and a musical."

"And the leading lady is pretty awesome."

"Convinced; play it."

Quinn put the movie in and sat on the couch for a toenail painting. During the ' _Part of Your World_ ' scene, Quinn started a conversation with, "Remember the day we first met? You sang this song."

"I remember."

"I thought you were the best singer I had ever seen."

"Really?"

Quinn nodded. "I still do."

"That had to have been nine years ago. God, we've only been friends for nine years?"

"Feels like longer, doesn't it?"

"Like forever?"

"Like forever."

"I don't think I could have asked for a better friend."

"Ditto, Rachel. Ditto."

The song came to an end. "You know she has a daughter in the sequel, right?"

"I know. I did consider the names Ariel and Melody for my baby."

"Really, Quinn?"

"They were better than Puck's suggestion. He wanted to give her a 'rockstar' name and suggested Jack Daniels. I reminded him it was a girl so he's like, 'okay, fine, whatever, _Jackie_ Daniels. I was so mad I stabbed him with a fork."

"Quinn!"

"It barely left a mark. Then I felt bad that I could have killed him—even though I couldn't—and I started crying so he tried to make me feel better and for some reason he's attractive when he cares. So we ended up having sex on the kitchen floor."

"Eww, Quinn! Isn't that unsanitary?"

"It was my stupid pregnancy hormones! I can't wait until I have the baby then I'll go back to never wanting to have sex with him again."

"Is he bad at it?"

"Rachel!"

"Friends tell each other these things! I told you how Finn was."

"If you must know: no, Puck is really good in bed; but I just don't have any feelings for him and I think you should only have sex with someone you love. Now can we move on to a new topic of discussion please?"

"I think you do love him a little."

"New topic of discussion please!"

"Okay, okay," Rachel had a knowing smile on her face. "Let's just go back to watching the movie."

"Fine," they sat in silence for a while before Quinn broke it again. "Do you think Beth will like this movie?"

"She'll love it."

"Do you think Beth will like me?"

"What kind of question is that? She'll love you."

"Do you think I can be a good mom?"

"Of course I do."

Quinn started rubbing her stomach. "I'm just so afraid I won't be."

"All new moms feel that way. You don't have anything to be scared of."

"Except for the actual birth. I've read some real horror stories, Rachel."

"It'll all be worth it when you see your baby for the first time."

"Yeah, it better be."

…

It had all happened so fast. Quinn had been having pains on and off shortly before the sun came up on the morning of June 8th and she woke everyone up by pacing up and down the apartment because walking felt comfortable. Puck protested that she "get her ass in the car" so he could take her to the hospital, but Quinn kept arguing that it wasn't the real thing and it was only back pain.

"Ever hear of back labor?" Puck had a nervous edge to his voice as he questioned her.

Quinn brushed him off with, "It's nothing, Noah, go back to bed."

"Yeah, like I'm really gonna sleep now," he went to the kitchen. "Rachel, you want some waffles?"

"Are you sure we should be making breakfast now?" Rachel was trying to appear calm. "Shouldn't we be going to the hospital?"

"It's nothing Rachel," Puck was mocking Quinn's earlier statement. "She's just about to pop a baby out of her."

"I am not in labor!" Quinn insisted. "When my water breaks, that's when I'm in labor."

"What was that thing you said about it not being like the movies?"

Quinn flipped him off. "Everyone always makes a mad dash for the hospital when it's really just a body preparing for labor. And besides, the first labor is really slow and drawn out. Everything's fine."

At least that's what Quinn kept insisting as her pains only intensified. "Okay that's it," Puck grabbed his keys. "I don't care what you say! Get in the car, I'm taking you to the hospital."

"It's just Braxton-Hicks."

"The hell it is!"

Rachel, meanwhile, had picked up the suitcase she had set out for Quinn a few hours earlier. "Quinn, I think we should-"

"Guys, it's nothing!" Shortly after that, Quinn doubled over in agony. Puck and Rachel immediately ran to her side. "Could you back off, please?"

Rachel turned to Puck with a pleading look on her face. In response, Puck could only give her a look that signified he didn't know what to do either (Quinn was a very stubborn woman and it'd be hard to convince her to change her mind). "Honey," Rachel started to rub Quinn's back, "we really ought to go."

"My water hasn't broken."

"That's not always the first thing to happen and you know it," Puck told her. "Come on, Q, this can't be good for the baby." She bit her lip. "And if you don't make it in time you won't be able to get the epidural."

That did the trick. A very anxious Rachel acted as a spotter while helping Quinn get into the backseat of the car (Puck had sold his truck and bought a used car so there'd be room for a car seat). Rachel was also considerate enough to sit beside Quinn in the backseat while Puck drove to the hospital.

"This really hurts," Quinn had commented after a particularly strong contraction. She then started smacking Puck. "Drive faster!"

"Dammit, Q," Puck tried to dodge her hits as he drove. "Sit back and shut up."

"You did this to me!"

"It takes two to tango, Babe," he sped up at a yellow light. "Try that breathing stuff we learned in that class."

"What good is that going to do?"

As this was happening, Rachel was shaking in the backseat trying not to have a panic attack. Would any of this be happening if they'd gotten to the hospital sooner? When they did arrive, Rachel was the first one out. She took a much needed breath of fresh air before going to help Quinn out of the car. It was when she was helping Quinn out that it happened…

…her water broke all over Rachel's new sandals. "Um, ew," Rachel was trying not to freak and Puck's laughing wasn't making it any better.

"Here," he brought a wheelchair over to Quinn, "get Quinn inside and I'll meet you there."

"What? Where are you going?"

"I can't exactly leave my car in front of the emergency entrance. I'm sure she can hold it in until I get there." Quinn flipped him off before Rachel hurriedly wheeled her in.

"Hi, yes, my friend is having a baby."

"We called ahead," Quinn told the woman at the front desk. "Quinn Fabray."

"Fill out these forms," the woman handed Quinn a clipboard and pen.

Bouncing in her spot, Rachel gave a double take. "Shouldn't we be rushing her to a birthing room or something?"

"It's policy to fill out insurance forms before admittance."

"But my friend is about to give birth!"

"Rachel, calm down," Quinn told her. "I have time."

She didn't. After Quinn was admitted into a room and checked over, the doctor determined she was close to pushing (something Quinn didn't exactly want to believe). Quinn honestly wanted to hit the next medical professional who told her 'some women have quick labors'. Of course, the person she wanted to hit the most was the person who put her in this position who was also trying to film everything. "Noah, if you don't put that fucking camera away I will give you a homemade vasectomy!"

That got him to put it away. "You were the one who wanted me to film this."

"I changed my mind!" Another contraction came and she screamed in agony. A paler Rachel had actually plugged her ears.

"I told you we should've left earlier."

"SHUT UP!" another cry of pain. "You suck! You suck! You su-" a contraction prevented her from finishing that last part. "I changed my mind! I don't want to have a baby! I want to go home! Rachel," Quinn grabbed her friend's sleeve, "Rachel can you do this for me?"

"Hey Rachel, you don't look so good."

"I'm fine," Rachel was partly trying to assure herself as well. She cringed a little as the nurses put Quinn's feet in stirrups while the doctor situated herself between Quinn's legs and instructed Quinn to push on the next contraction. No turning back now. Somehow, a wobbly Rachel managed to stand through the first couple of pushes before the doctor asked her or Puck if they wanted to look.

Reluctantly, Puck did. "Oh, eww!" he made a face.

When Rachel was asked if she wanted to look, she informed them she was fine where she was. "Maybe you could draw me a picture, or something." When it was announced the baby was crowning, Rachel backed as far away as she could.

"Mirror!" Quinn had managed to say.

"Does it really matter how you look right now?" Quinn responded by flailing her hand toward the small mirror hanging from the wall that could be adjusted so that the mother could watch her baby being born. "Why are you-" a nurse understood and had adjusted the mirror for Quinn. After inadvertently seeing the sight reflected in the mirror, Rachel promptly fainted.

…

"I think she knows my voice or somethin'," Rachel had heard Puck's voice as she came to a few hours later.

"Rachel, you're up!" Quinn was the first to acknowledge her.

"What happened?" was the first thing Rachel asked.

"You kinda, sorta fainted in the delivery room." Rachel groaned at that. "It's not as bad as it seems."

"It was pretty frickin' hilarious though," Puck had commentated.

Quinn carefully smacked him with a free hand. "Watch your language, Noah!"

"I did watch it that time."

Rachel finally took notice of the scene a few feet away. Quinn was sitting upright in a hospital bed holding a small bundle while Puck sat on the bed beside them. "Is that-"

"No, it's a loaner." Quinn smacked him again. "I couldn't resist."

Rachel cautiously approached the bed to look at the baby. "Oh my God," she breathed when she set her eyes on the newborn. "She's so beautiful."

"It's 'cause she looks just like Quinn."

"She's so tiny; is she supposed to be that little?"

"She's a perfectly normal size, Rachel," Quinn had told her. "You wanna hold her?"

"What? Really?"

"Really," before Rachel could reply, Quinn was passing her daughter to her. "Support her head, okay?" She guided Rachel's hand behind Beth's head. "Rachel, I'd like you to meet Beth."

"Hi, Beth," when Beth's eyes met Rachel's, Rachel couldn't help but shed a few tears. "Do you know who I am? I'm your—she can call me Aunt, right?" Quinn nodded. "I'm your Aunt Rachel." She didn't notice Puck take a picture with his camera. "You have got to be the most cutest baby in the whole wide world." She gently ran her hand over the tufts of blonde hair on the baby's head. "I'm sorry I missed your big debut into the world. I'll make it up to you somehow." She looked at Puck. "Dibs on buying her first pony." Puck snapped his fingers in pretend defeat. When Beth began to squirm, Rachel passed her back to Quinn. "Congratulations you guys."

Quinn gave Beth her finger to grasp on as Puck took a picture of his family. "That's a good one, Q," he showed Rachel the picture he just took as well as the one before it.

"You have to give me copies of those so I can frame them."

"Hey," Quinn's attention was directed to them instead of Beth, "I want to thank you both for being here. This is the most important moment of my life and I'm glad I get to share it with the people who matter most to me."

"Where else were we gonna be?"

"Yeah," Puck agreed with Rachel. "We love you, Q."

Quinn focused on Puck. "You love me?"

"Yes," he took one her hand in his and kissed her knuckles, "especially now." Quinn just smiled in response.

"Here," Rachel took the camera from Puck, "let me get a couple of pictures of Beth with her mommy and daddy. You gotta send something nice to your Mom, right Puck?" Puck let out a laugh at that. "Okay smile," Rachel took a few pictures. One of the sweeter ones captured Quinn watching Puck give Beth a kiss atop her head. The only blurry one was when Puck gave Quinn a kiss on her cheek.

"You missed," Quinn had said to him after. Noticing his confused look, Quinn leaned in and gave him a kiss on the lips.

And that had to have been one of Rachel's favorite images that had ever been captured.

* * *

 **I had a hard time figuring out how to do this chapter. The only thing I knew was that I had to include the birth, but what else was I going to put in this chapter? Plus I had a bout of writer's block and focused on my other fic and it kinda deterred me from this one, but eventually I buckled down and spent the last two (technically** _ **three**_ **days working on it). I hope I did it justice.**


	10. Changes (2019)

**In this chapter, we're gonna time jump. I can't do it like the movie—have the close-up of the baby fade into a child—so don't be surprised if this is mostly an exposition chapter. I'm gonna state the year, explain everything that happened leading up to it, and then start a new plot point that I stole—er, borrowed—from the movie.**

* * *

 _April, 2019_

A lot can happen in a nearly six year span. Change is inevitable, and life is unpredictable.

The day Beth was born, Quinn's mother came to the hospital with news that her father had left for some tattooed freak. She had also asked Quinn to come back home. Interestingly enough, Puck was the one who convinced Quinn to go home with her mom. Judy would be a big help taking care of Beth—she had taken care of two daughters after all. Her house had more room, Judy worked from home, and it wasn't going to be a difficult transition when Quinn went back to school.

"Do you really want this?" Quinn asked him.

Puck looked down at his daughter. "We have to do what's best for Beth. It's not like I'm not gonna see her; I'll be around. And she'll have her own room whenever she comes to my apartment. But this way someone who knows what they're doing will take care of her when you're at school and I'm at work. This doesn't mean I'm not going to be there for her, I am, and for you too. I'm just a text or phone call away."

"You'll be miserable without me," Quinn's quip managed to make him chuckle. "And I'm really gonna miss you too. I'm proud of you." He gave a casual shrug. "Really, I am. I'm never gonna have to worry about you being a good father because you already proved you are on more than one occasion."

"Maybe I…maybe I could be a good boyfriend too?"

Quinn considered this. "I'll think about it. It's not a yes, but it's not a no. For now, I think we should focus on our daughter instead of us."

And that's just what they did. They devoted most of their time, attention, and energy to their little girl all the while working and going to school. Eventually, Quinn had moved out of her mother's home and into her own house with her daughter. This was also convenient because it was closer to Pucks' apartment. While Beth primarily lived with her mother, she would spend every weekend at her father's apartment—even though Puck would almost always stop by Quinn's house on his way home from work every day. No, Beth's parents weren't together romantically, but they did remain close with one another and co-parented effortlessly. As the years went on, it became kind of a comfortable routine for them.

It all changed for them in 2017. One change for the better was Quinn graduating, getting her teaching degree, and shortly after securing a job at the nearby elementary school. She was going to tell Puck this news when he returned Beth home, but he had some news as well.

"What?" Quinn couldn't believe it.

He tried to explain. "It's something I've been thinking about doing for a while now and-"

"You're joining the army?"

"Air Force, actually."

"Is this because you want to fulfill that stupid _Top Gun_ fantasy of yours?"

"Okay A: they were Naval Aviators, I checked. And two: this is good for me. Before I became a father, Finn was my moral compass; helping me see what was right and what was wrong. Would I listen? Not always. When he died…" Puck trailed off. It had been four years at that point and he still missed his friend terribly. "I remembered him saying he wanted to be in the army like his father, but we were just kids back then, I didn't take him seriously. After giving it some more thought...I dunno, this can really help keep me on the right track."

"You've been doing good since Beth was born."

"You once called me a Lima Loser remember? I don't want to be that kind of guy. I want to make something of myself. I want to be redeemed for the person I was and the things I've done. I want to be remembered for something special. And more importantly, I want Beth to be proud of her father. I love you and I love Beth more than anything in the world, but I need another purpose in life. The Air Force can give me a purpose and help me support my family. I think this is something I have to do." Quinn gave no immediate answer. "Say something, Q."

Quinn took a breath. "It seems like you've already made your mind up."

"This is one of the few things I've ever been sure of."

"I want to be there when you explain to our daughter why she won't be seeing her father as much." Puck agreed with a nod. "And I want you to list me as your emergency contact."

"Fine."

"And you're gonna spend your last day here with me and your daughter."

"I was plannin' on doing that anyway."

"You're really going to do this?"

"Yeah, I really am."

"I don't care what anyone says," she went over and wrapped her arms around him (much to his surprise). "You're a real man, Noah Puckerman. I'm never going to think of you as a Lima Loser. You're special, and romantic, and I wish I realized it sooner."

"We may not be together, but we're bonded for life, Babe." She smiled. "I'm always gonna love you."

"Tell you what: if you're still single when you finish your stint in the Air Force, why don't we give us a go?"

"Wait, what?"

"I never give you enough credit, Puck. I spent so much time trying to deny my feelings for you and move on but then you do or say something that makes me realize why I chose to sleep with you in the first place."

"That, and I am pretty good in the sack."

"Always the charmer, Noah."

"Admit it."

"I will admit that I have feelings for you and I'm willing to give you another chance after you've come home. Is that good enough?"

"Yeah, yeah. Some things are worth the wait."

"Thank you," she gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before seductively whispering in his ear, "Did I ever tell you that I find a man in uniform sexy?"

…

Changes had also happened for Rachel. And with the exception of her failed TV show, they were mostly changes for the better. Following her first major production, Rachel's performance was acknowledged with a Tony Award nomination for Featured Actress in a Musical. And while she didn't win, the nomination did open some more doors. Though her Tony Award winning performance for Leading Actress in a Musical for the _Funny Girl_ revival in June, 2018 pretty much secured her the Broadway stardom she had dreamt of.

Another change? She was engaged. The twist? She was engaged to Jesse St. James.

This left a lot of people who knew her wondering how the hell that happened. It was shortly after her Tony nomination. Rachel would be doing press junkets and interviews and some of them had asked for clips of a young Rachel performing. She had been watching a bunch of old home movies her dads had shot when she came across her graduation. While reliving the humiliation of the NYADA rejection, she watched as Hiram struggled to turn the camera off. One of the things he had accidentally captured was Jesse, who had also graduated with her, standing a few feet behind her and looking at her as if he felt sorry for her.

Of course she confronted him about it. When he said he didn't know what she was talking about, she showed him the video. "Actual, video proof that you once felt sorry for me."

"Okay, fine," he admitted. "I was going over to brag about me getting into NYADA when I heard you got rejected."

"Liar: you didn't go to NYADA."

"No, I did. I did for like a month or two before I got my Tony Nominated role." Was he seriously bragging now?

"We've never gotten along once in our life and you had the perfect opportunity to gloat, but you feel sorry for me instead."

"I didn't like seeing you cry."

"I'm sorry, what? The boy who made me cry most in life didn't like to see my cry?"

"I've never once seen you cry."

"We could have been friends, but you chose to act superior and make me feel bad every chance you got."

"Boys usually pick on girls they like, don't they?"

"Wait, what? Did you just admit that you _like_ me?"

"I guess I did." Neither of them looked at each other after that. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know."

"Do we…go out for coffee or something?"

"I need to think this over."

That was code for "let me talk this over with Quinn". Quinn was also surprised by this news, but accidentally convinced her into giving him a chance when she inadvertently brought up Puck. At the mention of his name, Rachel thought of Puck and Quinn's relationship. How she once teased Puck picks on Quinn because he likes her—which ironically Rachel didn't notice with her and Jesse. When Rachel pointed this out to Quinn, Quinn advised her, "With Finn you just went for it and it was over too soon. I don't want something like that to happen to you again. Take things slow with Jesse, okay."

The next day, Rachel and Jesse went out for coffee. Exactly three years later, they were engaged ("Talk about taking it slow," Kurt had jested).

While Finn was sort of her complimentary opposite, Jesse was the male version of Rachel. One would think they wouldn't work together because of the clashing egos, but somehow they did. And she was taking it slow despite both of them wanting things to move faster, but each of them understood why. Though being bombarded by paparazzi asking them when they were getting married was annoying as hell.

A few months after winning the Tony, Rachel decided she wanted to do an album of some her favorite female oriented songs. She did ask Quinn for some contributions, and both of them agreed that _Part of Your World_ had to be on there, no question. Her album wasn't a huge success, but it was a hot sell and popular download on iTunes. Shortly her album came out, she was offered a supporting role in an upcoming Marvel movie.

Everything seemed perfect, and that's what worried Rachel. When things got to be too good (perfect even), something would go wrong.

But nothing could prepare her for what happened in early April, 2019.

...

Quinn was asleep on the third of April when her almost six year old daughter snuck in with a present she had obviously wrapped herself. "Mommy," Beth shook her mother. "Mommy! Mommy, wake up." When Quinn opened her eyes, her daughter enthusiastically shoved the present at her. "Happy Birthday!"

Quinn smiled. "Thank you, Bethie," she gave her daughter a kiss and invited her onto her bed. "Did you wrap it yourself?"

"Uh-huh!"

"You did a good job, Sweetie." Beth smiled a proud smile. "What's this?" The gift was a framed portrait of Beth's handprints; the words _'I Love You Mommy'_ also imprinted under the small hands. "Bethie, I love it." She gave her daughter another kiss.

"I love _you_ , Mommy."

"I love you too." Quinn looked over her gift. "Did you make this at school?"

Beth nodded. "I made one for Daddy too."

"Did you?" She nodded. "I know he'll love it when he sees it."

"When's he coming home?"

"Soon, Baby."

"How come he doesn't work nearby like other daddies?"

"Because Daddy's job is very special. Remember how we told you Daddy fights to protect our country?"

"Yes."

"Well he can't fight it here because there's nothing bad to fight."

"Oh."

"And now that we're up we can go get ready for school."

"Can we have bacon for breakfast?"

"I'm sorry Honey, but Mommy's too tired to make breakfast today."

"You were too tired to make breakfast yesterday too."

Beth had brought up a valid point. Quinn had been tired a lot more lately, but attributed this to her job—she was an elementary school teacher and those kids didn't need coffee for energy. She was on the go often and she was pretty sure she had caught the flu from someone or something. "Tell you what: I'll make it up to you by getting you McDonald's breakfast."

"You will?" Beth hardly ever got fast food from her mother. "Will you play with me later too?"

"We'll see."

"Mommy, how come you're always tired?"

"Because grown ups don't have as much energy as little kids."

"Grown ups are boring."

"I know, Baby. Go on; go get ready for school." Beth ran to her room. Going to the bathroom, Quinn helped herself to an aspirin. _I just need more sleep_ she thought as she turned on her shower. But when she felt dizzy, she turned the shower off and helped herself to another aspirin.

They didn't seem to be doing much good as the day went on. When she got dizzy again standing in front of all her second graders, she felt the need to pass out. To avoid scaring her class, she dismissed them for an early recess and went to the office. "Donna," she calmly began to the secretary, "I just sent my kids to an early recess. Can you call in a sub for me?"

Donna raised an eyebrow in suspicious confusion. "Everything okay, Quinn? You look kinda pale."

Quinn took a second to catch her breath. "And can you call Mercedes Jones; she's third in my emergency contact list."

"You're kinda freaking me out Quinn. Is everything okay?" Donna helplessly watched as Quinn collapsed to the floor. "Oh my God, Quinn!" the other secretaries began to crowd. "Someone call 911!"

…

"Technically it's called viral cardiomyopathy," Quinn's doctor was explaining to Judy and Mercedes as a bored Beth fidgeted behind them. "It explains why she's been so tired lately. Quinn will be suffering from shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness-"

"You mean _all the time_?" Judy interrupted.

"I'm afraid so. This virus attacks the heart and damages the muscle and there's really nothing-"

When Beth saw a nurse leave her mother's room, she snuck away from her grandmother and "Auntie 'Cedes" to pay a visit to her mom. The doctor talked like something was wrong, but Quinn was sitting upright in a pink bathrobe looking less pale. "Hi, Mommy!"

"Hi, Beth!" Quinn was more than happy to see her daughter. "What are you doing in here, Monkey? Why aren't you with Grandma or Auntie 'Cedes?"

"'Cause they're talking to the doctor."

"Oh, I see."

"Are you okay, Mommy?"

"I'll be okay, Bee. I just caught a virus."

"In your heart?"

"Who told you that?"

"I heard the doctor say you had a virus that did something to your heart." Often times, Beth was a smart girl for her age, and this time was no exception.

"Yes, I caught a virus in my heart. That's why I've been so tired all the time."

"Can you still play with me?"

"Of course I can still play with you; only not so much as before."

"You are gonna get better aren't you?"

Quinn didn't have the heart to tell her daughter the truth. "It's gonna take some time, but I'm going to get better."

"There you are," Mercedes had entered the room. "Your Grandma and I wondered where you ran off too."

"Beth, Mommy needs to talk to Auntie 'Cedes alone; can you go with grandma?"

"Okay," Beth gave her mother a hug, "Happy Birthday Mommy, I love you."

"I love you too, Beth," Quinn watched her daughter run out of the room. "Beth told me you and my Mom talked to the doctor?"

"We just got done actually," Mercedes confirmed. "Quinn, I'm so-"

"Don't!" Quinn cut her off. "I don't need any sympathy right now."

"What do you need?"

"I need you to call Kurt, Santana, Artie, Tina, and Sam and tell them for me. Ask my mother to tell my family on my behalf. The two of you can decide who will tell the school, but I will tell Puck and Rachel myself." Quinn took a breath, "And I don't want anyone else but me to tell my daughter. If I can't tell her, then just let her know that I have a virus in my heart and it's taking me a while to get better."

"Is there anything else you need? Something we can do?"

"Just do what I asked. Please." Mercedes nodded. "If you want, you can take Beth to lunch, somewhere she can play for a while without having to worry about me."

Mercedes gave Quinn a hug. "I'll pray for you, Girl."

…

Rachel was doing vocal warm-ups for her album when her mic check was interrupted. "Rachel, Jesse's calling, he says it's urgent."

"Thank you," Rachel thanked one of the sound guys and took out her phone. "Jesse, what's up?"

" _Rachel, you should really call your friend, Quinn_ ," Jesse requested. " _She's been trying to get a hold of you and she says it's urgent_."

"Urgent?"

" _It's gotta be important if she called the house phone—I mean who calls a house phone nowadays_?"

"Okay, I'll call her. Bye," Rachel hung up on her fiancée and called her best friend. "Quinn?"

" _Hi Rachel_ ," Quinn's tone sounded morose. " _Rachel, I have to tell you something and you might want to sit down_."

Rachel sat on the nearby stool. "What's the matter?"

" _How soon can you come to Ohio_?"

"Quinn, you're starting to scare me. What's wrong?"

" _I um_ …" she could hear Quinn burst into tears. "… _Rachel, I can't tell you this over the phone_."

"Can you try?"

" _This is something I have to tell you in person_. _You have to come to Ohio. Please_."

"Okay, I'll see if I can get a flight out." Quinn hung up, leaving a scared Rachel sitting on the stool in the recording studio. Thinking there was someone she could get the answers from, she called Kurt. "Kurt, it's Rachel. Tell me what's wrong with Quinn."

" _She didn't tell you_?" he questioned.

"She couldn't tell me over the phone. Is something wrong with Beth?"

" _No, Beth is fine. Rachel…Quinn's_ sick _; I mean_ really sick."

"Could she…you know?" Rachel couldn't force herself to say the word 'die'.

There was a long pause before Kurt responded with a somber, " _Yes_."

* * *

 **Ugh, I had no idea where to end this. I thought I'd end it here, Rachel would get the explanation in the next chapter so they can make the plans and what not. Like I said, this was mostly an exposition chapter.**


	11. Back to the Beach (2019)

**Nothing to say; here's the next chapter.**

* * *

 _April, 2019_

Rachel had taken the first immediate flight to Ohio she could get to rush to Quinn's side. "How long did the doctor say you had until..." Rachel still couldn't bring herself to say that word.

"He said I'd be lucky to have six months," Quinn had been keeping a rather serious tone lately.

"Is there anything we can do? Some way we can increase the time?"

"I've chosen rest and medication."

"What about a heart transplant?"

"I'm on a list, but it's unlikely they'll find a donor with my tissue type."

"You're going to get better," Rachel was saying this as if she was sure. "They'll find a donor in time, you'll get a new heart, you'll go back to teaching-"

"There's really no point in lying to ourselves, Rachel. I'd be lucky I live for another six months." Quinn let out a long breath. "At least I lived to be twenty-five."

"How'd Puck take this?"

"He's angry and bitter about it. He's gonna try to pull some strings to come home early and he's already decided he's going to move in with me; he won't take no for an answer."

Rachel swooned. "He wants to come home and take care of you."

"I figured you'd get a kick out of that."

Rachel wore a smug smile. "I told you you loved him."

"Okay, fine, I love him, and you get the satisfaction of being right."

"Are you going to-"

"Marry him? No."

"But you love him. You said you'd wait for him to come back and-"

"-and give our relationship a real chance—I meant dating, not marriage. Anyway, that's obviously not going to happen."

"At least consider marriage for legal reasons. I'm sure there'd be some good benefits that'll ensure the daughter you two have will be taken care of."

"Why have you always wanted me and Puck to end up together?"

"I've always liked you two together. You bring out the best in each other and there's no better proof of that than Beth."

"Beth's always wanted us together too. She asked me 'how come we're not married'. God, how do you explain adult situations to an innocent child? They always ask these questions that are so honest and pure and..." Quinn stopped to catch her breath and Rachel panicked a little. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Quinn nodded. "I'll go get you another bottle of water," Rachel headed for the kitchen when something on a hallway table caught her eye. Among various photos of Beth were the photo strips of ten year old Quinn and Rachel at Coney Island in a purple picture frame. "Oh my God, Quinn," Rachel went back into Quinn's room carrying the frame, "where did you find these pics of us?"

"I've always had them. My last day in New York my Mom took me shopping and I decided I wanted to get a picture frame for my new pictures." Rachel felt a twinge of guilt knowing she lost her set of the pictures. "Beth had a hard time believing her mother was once a little girl, she always thought I looked like this." Her face faltered a little. "Well, not _this_ , but..."

"No, I get it." Quinn broke into tears. "Quinn, what's wrong?"

"I promised I'd take her this summer," she wailed.

"I...I don't understand."

Quinn took a nearby tissue from her nightstand and dabbed her tears. "I promised Beth I'd take her to the beach house this summer. She found a picture of the house and asked if we could go and I told her I'd take her this summer."

"You still can."

"I can't take her alone, what if something happens. She's just a little girl, Rachel, she's not going to know what to do."

"Maybe you can hire a nurse."

"I don't have the money."

"Then maybe Puck can take you when he gets home."

"He was scheduled to come back in September. He's trying to come home early, but if he does the earliest he can get is mid to late August. The summer would pretty much be over by then and Beth will be starting first grade."

"Oh." Rachel had an idea, but she wasn't sure if she should suggest it. "Maybe..."

"Maybe what?"

"...maybe I could go with you. I stayed with you at the beach house before, I can do it again. And if I go I'll be able to help take care of you and Beth."

"What about your career?"

"I'm not really doing anything important right now, I can afford to take some time off."

"You just signed on for that _Jane Austen Sings_ musical. If I remember correctly, you said rehearsals start next week."

"So I'll rehearse until Beth gets out of school. The director loves me, I'll tell him what's going on, he'll feel sorry, and tell me to go take care of my best friend...then he'll expect me to put in more rehearsal hours when I get back. Hell, I'll even rehearse on the beach and film it to show him I'm just as committed to the show."

"And your fiancee? What about him?"

"If he loves me, he'll understand."

"Rachel-"

"I'm going to spend the summer with you at the beach house Quinn. You promised Beth you'd take her and you should do that before..." Rachel took a deep breath to prevent her from crying (though a few tears escaped her), "Besides, you love that place, Quinn. This is the last chance you'll get to go there. The last summer you'll spend with your daughter. You _have_ to go, you _have_ to take Beth, and I'm going to be there with the both of you."

"You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do."

"I'm not gonna be the reason you put your life on hold."

Rachel had a flashback to the time she and Quinn said goodbye at the airport back in January, 2013. Quinn had said something similar when Rachel told her she didn't have to go back to New York. Only this time, the circumstances were much different.

"Quinn," Rachel held her best friend's hands, "our friendship is one of the biggest parts of my life. I don't want to spend what's left of it wallowing over the inevitable. Let's make a few more happy memories while we still can, okay?"

A weepy Quinn nodded. "Okay."

...

 _June, 2019_

"Should you really be carrying that?" a concerned Rachel asked as Quinn picked up one of the last remaining suitcases.

"Rachel, it's fine, really," she assured. "Could you just make sure everything's off and locked before we go?"

"Okay. Oh, and I set an alarm on our phones to go off when it's time to take your pills."

"Yeah, you told me this like three times already. Could you please do what I asked?" Rachel nodded before beginning her task. "This'll be a fun car ride," Quinn's tone was sarcastic, but good-natured as she loaded the suitcase into the trunk of the car. "Come on, Beth," Quinn called to her now six year old.

"Is Rachel really coming with us?" did Beth seem upset with this?

"Yes Rachel's coming with us." Beth groaned at that. "Okay," Quinn shut the trunk, "what's with the attitude?"

"I don't like when she's here."

"Why not? Rachel always gets you those nice presents."

"They're always clothes."

"Is that why you don't like her?"

"I don't like her because whenever she comes over, you spend all your time with her and we have to do what _she_ likes."

"How often does Rachel come down to see us? I see you all the time and we always do what you want to do, but whenever we have a guest we are polite do what they want to do."

"Why is she going with us?"

"Because she's going to help make sure I get better."

"I can do that. I'll take care of you."

"Alright, you can take of care of me the most; but Rachel has to come so someone can do all the grown-up things I'm not able to do."

"Because you're sick."

"Yeah, Baby, because I'm sick."

"Daddy could take care of you better than she can."

"Well, Daddy's taking care of other people right now. But I promise he'll come see us in August and when we come back home from the beach, he's gonna live with us."

Beth's eyes lit up and her face broke into the widest smile. "He is?" Quinn nodded. "Does this mean you and Daddy are going to get married?"

"How come you want me and Daddy to get married so bad?"

"'Cause he loves you and he wants to marry you so bad."

"Did he tell you that?"

"Yes, he even let me wear the ring when we dressed up for our tea party."

"Ring?"

The shutting of the front door distracted Quinn. "Everything's all set," Rachel was rushing to the car as Beth got into the back. "Are we ready, ladies?" Scowling at Rachel, Beth grabbed her seatbelt and angrily put it on.

"Behave," Quinn reprimanded.

Beth folded her arms and grumbled, "Yes, Mom."

"Thank you," she shut the door.

"Quinn," Rachel followed Quinn to the passenger side, "does Beth hate me?"

"She's just jealous."

"Of what?"

"She thinks you're trying to steal me from her whenever you come over."

"Oh."

"Beth wants to be the only one to take care of me, so I told her she'll do it the most."

"But she doesn't like me."

"Yes, she does. Just spend a little more time with her this summer so you can get to know each other."

"I already know her." Quinn quirked a brow. "Fine, I admit I don't really spend any time with her. In my defense: I'm not so good with children unless I have to act alongside them for a show."

"Then do that for me. Put on a show with me as the audience and act like you're comfortable around my child," Quinn got into the car.

From her seat in the back, Beth was impatiently tapping on the back of the driver's seat. "How long's it gonna take us to go to the beach."

"I'm not sure, Bee," Quinn gave an honest response as Rachel got into the car.

"When we get there, will you go swimming with me, Mommy?"

"I can't go swimming with you, Baby, but Rachel will."

With a huff, an upset Beth leaned back as far as she could. "Never mind."

"Beth-"

"No, it's okay," Rachel started the car, "I'm not that good of a swimmer anyway. We'll find something else to do; maybe something all of us can do," she began driving away. "What do you say we get some music in here?"

"I want to listen to The Rolling Stones!" Beth demanded.

Quinn snorted at that. "She's her father's child."

"How about we listen to something we all like?" Rachel suggested.

"I don't like what you like," Beth protested.

"Beth, behave," Quinn sternly reminded. Crossing her arms against her chest, Beth pouted and said nothing for the rest of the car ride.

…

 _July, 2019_

It was taking a while for Beth to warm up to the woman she considered her competition. When they had first arrived at the beach, she insisted that she can carry her own things to her room (even if they were a little heavy for her). She'd also tell Rachel where things should go and, trying to please the demanding mini-Quinn, Rachel would move them only for Beth not to be pleased in the end regardless.

"And _I'm_ the diva," Rachel had muttered to herself after Beth was out of earshot.

Then there was the debacle of the first morning at the house. Rachel had taken a morning shower and went to her room when Beth decided to occupy the now empty bathroom. "MOM!" she ran to her mother's room as if something was dreadfully wrong.

An out of breath Quinn opened the door, "Beth, what's wrong?"

"Rachel left her towel on the floor."

Quinn gave a noise that was a mixture of a scoff, snort, and sigh of relief. "Is that all?" Beth nodded. "Pick it up."

"If I leave _my_ towel on the floor I have to pick it up myself."

"Rachel's our guest."

Said guest exited her room and went to the bathroom to hang up the used towel. Once finished, she turned to Beth and rather bitingly acknowledged what she had done. "There, happy?" Rachel went back to her room and slammed the door while Beth went into the bathroom and slammed that door.

Quinn had let out an exhausted breath after that. "This is going to be a long summer."

By July, Beth was at least tolerating Rachel's presence. The six year old noticed her mother was always tired and breathing funny and Rachel was always there to help and even play with Beth after helping Quinn. Beth didn't want to like Rachel, but at least the fact that they loved Quinn was something they had in common. Rachel was also in full support of Beth's parents getting married, much like Beth herself. And Rachel did like to watch Disney movies with them.

Maybe Rachel wasn't so bad after all.

Eventually, Beth invited Rachel to go swimming with her after a month or so at the beach house. This was something Rachel was reluctant to accept because she couldn't swim, but she accepted anyway to keep in Beth's good graces. The two of them spent the day down by the water while Quinn sat on the deck of the house watching, silently wishing she could be there with them if she wasn't so damn tired all the time. And when she saw Rachel teach Beth a new song and dance, Quinn smiled for the first time in a long time...

...even if it was just to hide the pain.

…

Rachel was having breakfast with Beth when a thump from the bedroom down the hall distracted them. "I'll be right back," she was trying not to panic in case Quinn had collapsed or something.

"Dammit!" it was soon clear that the thud was Quinn throwing a box of photos with all her might when Quinn threw another box and cried.

"Quinn," Rachel hurried over to Quinn, "what are you doing? What's wrong?"

"I have to find it," was what Quinn managed to pant out.

"Find what?"

"There's a picture I need to find of my mother and grandmother," she took a moment to catch her breath. "I need to see their hands."

"Their hands? Quinn, I don't-"

"Beth said she and I have the same hands," Rachel understood the importance of finding the photo now. "I need to see my mother and grandmother's hands. We have to find that picture!"

"Okay, calm down, I'll help you find it. Don't overexert yourself by throwing these boxes."

Quinn began weeping. "I'm so scared, Rachel," she obviously wasn't talking about finding the picture.

Rachel consolingly rubbed Quinn's back. "We'll find it, I promise," they weren't going to talk about Quinn's mortality.

Quinn wiped her tears with her bathroom sleeve. "You're not gonna comment on how crazy I'm being?"

"No, I get it. This is something you need to know. I'm gonna help you," Rachel started to help look through the boxes. "Is this the one," when Rachel thought she found it, she passed it to Quinn.

"That's it exactly," she looked over that picture, and then at the picture of her and Beth next to her bed. "Everyone says Beth is a mini-me, but I never realized how much. Yes she has my hair and eye color, but I never realized our hands were the same," she gave a sort of laugh as she looked at the picture in her hands. "Our hands are something we get from our mothers. If Beth has a daughter, she'll have our hands."

Rachel bit her lip before breaking the silence with, "You do have nice hands." The ringing of Quinn's cell phone got Rachel's attention, but Quinn did nothing about it. Curious, Rachel checked the caller ID. "It's Mercedes."

"Don't answer it."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to talk to anyone right now."

Rachel waited for the phone to stop ringing—she was too polite to hit the decline button. When she exited to the home screen of Quinn's phone, she stated what caught her attention. "Quinn, you have thirty-three unread text messages." *BUZZ* "Thirty-four."

"I said I didn't want to talk to anyone. If they're so desperate to talk to me, then they'll relay their 'have her call mes' to you."

"They're going to think I'm holding you prisoner," Rachel tried to lighten the mood with a joke.

"I don't care what they think," Quinn wasn't in the joking mood.

"Okay, I'll tell them you're resting if they try to call me." Rachel paused before changing the subject. "It's a beautiful day. Beth and I are going down to the docks to get some lobster; wanna come with?"

"I can't walk that far."

"We're gonna drive."

"I'm fine here."

Rachel put her hands up in defeat. There was no point in trying, Quinn was a very stubborn woman. "Fine, you're fine here. Will you at least…" she tried to be tact about what she was going to say, "…you've been wearing that bathrobe over those pajamas for days. When was the last time you changed your clothes, or went outside, or even took a shower?"

"I just want to be left fucking alone!" Quinn snapped. "Is that too much to ask?"

"I'm sorry if that was too much for me to ask you to do. I know how hard this is for-"

"No, you don't! You have no idea what this feels like at all. It's happening to _me_ , not _you_. I'm the one with the death sentence! I'm the one who's going to miss out on her child growing up. I'm the one who won't be able to protect her from the world. I'm going to miss out on everything and I hate it! I hate that I'm always tired, and I can't do anything with my own daughter the way you can, and that Beth would rather spend time with you."

"You told me to play with her."

"I know I did, but I had no idea it would make me feel like this! I'm happy you're bonding with her Rachel. I'm glad you have the energy to keep up with her. But you're not her mother, I am! There's so much she's going to need her mother for, and I can't…" they both knew where Quinn was going with that. "No Rachel," Quinn was trying to get some calming breaths, "you don't understand. You're still in the land of the living."

"Yeah? Well so are you! You're not dead yet, so stop living as if you are!" There was the awkward silence again. "I promised I'd go take Beth down to the docks. If we need you, we'll know where to find you," with that, she stormed out.

…

"You sing real good, Rachel," Beth complimented as she and Rachel watched a DVD performance of Rachel in _Funny Girl_ later that afternoon.

"Really?" Rachel asked her.

"Yeah, like real, real good."

"Your mom thinks so too."

"Rachel, you said you and my Mom played together once with your friends and my Daddy."

"No, we were _in a play_ once." She noticed Beth's look of confusion. "It's like what you're watching now where we dressup, pretend we're different people, and sing for other people to watch us. I'm sure my dads have a video of it somewhere they can send me."

"You have two daddies?" Rachel nodded. "Do you have a mommy?"

"Yes, I even got to be in a play with her."

"I wish I could be in a play with my Mommy like you were. You got to play with _your_ mommy and _my_ mommy and I'm not gonna do that."

Rachel didn't know if Beth understood that her mother was dying, or if Beth thought her mother wouldn't be able to play wit her anymore. So she swallowed a lump in her throat and decided not to let things get serious. "You already did. Whenever you and your mommy play dressup or play with your toys, that's the same thing."

"It is?" Rachel nodded. "But no one got to see it."

"Because it's something very special that only you and your mommy share."

Beth turned her attention back to the performance. "Mommy sings good too."

"I know she does, Beth."

When they heard footsteps, they turned to see Quinn make her way into the living room. Instead of wearing the bathrobe over her pajamas, Quinn had changed into a simple sundress following a much needed shower. "Mommy!" Beth ran to her mother and wrapped herself around her.

"Hi, Bee," Quinn greeted. "I thought I'd come help start dinner; I heard we're having lobster."

"Mommy, can you braid my hair first?"

"Of course I can, Baby," Quinn sat on the couch next to Rachel while Beth hurried to get hair supplies. "I hope you don't mind, but I invited Kurt and Mercedes over tomorrow for dinner."

Rachel smiled. "I don't mind at all." Upon closer inspection, Rachel realized Quinn was wearing makeup. "You look pretty."

"Thank you."

"Shampoo smells nice."

"Yes, I stole some of yours."

"I had a feeling you did."

"I found one of those large floater rafts in the hall closet. I know I can't really swim, but I should still enjoy the water while I can."

"That sounds like a good idea, Quinn." After that, Beth came back with the hair supplies and handed them to her mother. As she began braiding her daughter's hair, Quinn turned to Rachel and winked. In response, Rachel merely smiled and said, "Welcome back, Quinn."

* * *

 **This one was another hard one to figure out. I kept rewatching the movie and realized Barbara Hershey's character, Hillary, didn't really live that long after the diagnosis. She collapsed in June—we learn this after the first scene she and her daughter have together—she spends the summer at the beach house, the summer ends, she's going to C.C's concert, and you can see a calendar for September in her daughter's room before she collapses again and C.C. goes to see her in the hospital. That's barely a three month span, so I had to figure out how to tackle that. At least I gave Quinn a little longer than Hillary had.**

 **Also the way I figure, we don't have much left before this story comes to an end. Pretty soon, we'll be right back where the story started.**


	12. Coming Home (2019)

**I think this might be the final part before we go back to the beginning. Rest assured, it's not the end of the story, just the end of the flashbacks.**

* * *

 _August, 2019_

Quinn laid down her cards on the deck table. "Looks like I win again."

A defeated Rachel threw her cards down. "Unfair. This is _my_ card game and you beat me at it every time."

"It's not my fault 'Go Fish' is the only card game you know."

"I was never one for card games."

"'Cause you always lose at them."

"Don't be mean, Quinn."

Quinn smiled at her before looking off toward the water. "You know, this has really been a great summer."

"Hasn't it?"

"Really, I think staying here's been good for me."

"You look a little better."

"I feel a little better too."

"Really?"

"Don't get me wrong: I still feel like crap, but not as much as I did before."

To avoid any potential discussion over the inevitable, Rachel decided to change the subject. "Remember when we stayed here in the winter; how cold it was?"

"How could I forget?"

"And we sang all those Christmas carols on Christmas Eve because we couldn't fall asleep."

"Okay, _that_ I don't remember?"

"Seriously? You made me sing ' _O Come All Ye Faithful'_ in Latin."

"I think maybe you're stretching the truth."

Rachel scoffed. "Stretch the truth, _moi_? Quinn Fabray, I know everything there is to know about you and my memory's long," Rachel got up to leave, "my memory is _very_ long."

Quinn waited until Rachel had left before she said, "I'm counting on it."

…

"Seriously?" Rachel slid a card over to Beth as the women played 'Go Fish' on the deck two days later.

"I'm that good at this game," a sassy Beth noted to Rachel.

"That's because you cheat like your mother."

"Don't listen to her Beth," Quinn told her daughter. "Aunt Rachel's just a sore loser."

"Hey!"

The honking of a car horn closing in in the distance made Beth gasp with excitement. "Daddy's here!" she bounded from her deck chair, sprinted through the house, and made sure she was the first one at the front to greet Puck as soon as he got out of the car. "Daddy!" she jumped into his waiting arms.

"Hey Monkeyface," he peppered her face with kisses to her delight. "I missed you."

"I missed you more."

"Well, we're both pretty awesome not to miss," he set a giggling Beth down as Rachel made her way over to him. "'Sup Berry."

"Hello Noah," the friends hugged each other.

"How's she doin'?"

Rachel shrugged. "She's looking less pale and says she's feeling better, but she's still pretty tired."

"She takin' all her medicine and junk?"

"Like clockwork."

"Daddy," Beth was tugging at his pants leg, "I got to give you stuff I made while you were away."

He knelt to her level. "And I can't wait to see what you made; but first I have to see Mommy."

"She's on the deck," Rachel informed him. As he went to see Quinn, Rachel looked to Beth. "How about I go make us some lunch, okay Beth?" Beth nodded despite a small pout on her face. "I promise he'll see it all after he sees Mommy."

"Quinn?" Puck had indicated his presence before he made it onto the deck. However, there was no response. Nor was there anyone outside. "Quinn?" he quickly looked around for her before meeting up with Rachel. "I thought you said she was on the deck."

"She should be," Rachel also checked. "Okay she _was_."

"Where is she _now_?"

"Don't panic, she couldn't have gotten that far—she's easily exhausted when she's not sitting down. Maybe when we went to meet you she got up and went to the bathroom." Rachel looked down the hall to find that the bathroom vacant. The door to Quinn's room, on the other hand, was closed. "Or maybe she's waiting for you in her bedroom."

Puck gently tapped on the bedroom door. "Quinn?" There wasn't an immediate response.

This time Rachel knocked on the door, "Quinn?" she opened it enough to peek in.

"Rachel?" Quinn made sure it was Rachel before she stepped into view wearing only a bra and underwear and holding a blue dress. "Can you stall for a few minutes?"

Rachel held her index finger to Puck as a signal for him to wait before going into Quinn's room and closing the door behind her. "What's going on?"

Quinn was struggling not to cry. "He can't see me."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I don't want him to see me. Not like this."

"Quinn."

"I have to get dressed and do my hair and makeup so-"

"Honestly, Quinn," Rachel took the dress from her and helped her put it on. "He's not gonna care how you look. He just wants to see you." She brushed Quinn's hair with her fingers after the dress was on. "Even if you think you're at your worst, he's gonna love you as if you're at your best." Quinn bit her lip and nodded. "Is it okay for me to send him in now?" Another nod. "Relax; he and I always think you're beautiful." That got Quinn to smile. Rachel gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder before stepping back outside and widening the door a little. "It's okay, you can go in."

Puck nodded and took a deep breath before opening the door all the way. "Quinn?"

Standing in a blue dress in the center of the room wearing a big smile, was Quinn. "Hello, Noah." He tentatively approached her. "It's okay, we can hug." After he carefully wrapped his arms around her, he began to cry. It wasn't like him to be emotional in front of anyone, but Quinn found a sort of comfort in seeing him like this. Rubbing his back, she assured him that she missed him too.

A few tears even escaped Rachel, who watched the scene to make sure Puck was careful when he embraced her. She wiped her tears and tried to look composed as she went to the kitchen to meet Beth. "What kind of sandwich do we want today, Miss Beth?"

"You're sad," was all Beth said.

"What?"

"Your eyes are puffy and you're looking away. You were crying, so you're sad."

"Yes, I was crying, but I'm crying because I'm…happy." Maybe ' _happy_ ' wasn't the right word. It's a little hard not to be sad when you think of your late first love as you watch your dying friend with her true love; but at the same time, the sight did bring Rachel some sort of happiness. "Well, I'm happy _and_ sad."

"Like when Riley was both joy and sadness in _Inside Out_?" Why did children often use movies for examples?

"Yeah."

"Can I have a peanut butter banana sandwich?"

Rachel couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "Anything you want Beth."

A few hours after Rachel and Beth had finished lunch, Puck and Quinn came out of the bedroom hand in hand. "Hey," Rachel greeted. "I hope you don't mind, but you were in there a long time so Beth and I picked dinner tonight."

"What're we having?" Puck asked as he helped Quinn sit on the couch.

"Lobsters for you guys, and a special veggie meal for me and Quinn."

"A real meal; can't wait," he took the open space beside Quinn and gestured for Beth to come sit on his lap.

"I hope you don't mind me asking what took you guys so long?"

A casual shrug from Puck. "We were just talkin', catchin' up, took a small nap together, no big."

"Puck and I also decided to get married," Quinn added. This elicited an excited squeal from Rachel.

"Really?" Beth was also equally excited as evident by her gasp.

"Really," Puck mimicked the way she had asked him.

"It's not just the whole 'wanting to spend the rest of our lives together' bit," Quinn was explaining, "but legality wise it'll make some things easier if Puck's listed as my husband."

"It's not like we're making a big deal out of it. Just hire some minister guy, sign a marriage license, and get married here in front of our closest friends."

"I told him I wanted to get married here on the beach."

"Whatever my baby mama wants, my baby mama gets."

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that, _Noah_?" He just smirked at her. "Honestly, you're such a jerk."

"But you love me." Quinn rolled her eyes at him.

"Have you guys chosen a date?" Rachel inquired.

"The sooner the better."

Quinn nodded in agreement before adding to that. "We just have to get a few supplies to throw a small party, find a Justice of the Peace, get a marriage license, and he has to go back home to get the ring."

Rachel quirked a brow to Puck. "You have a ring?"

The man casually shrugged this off as if it wasn't a big thing. "I got one a little after Quinn moved into my apartment. I was gonna give it to her after Beth was born, but then the whole thing with Judy happened."

"Yet you still held on to it? Quinn was the girl you knew you wanted to marry and you waited for her."

"Yep," Puck gave Quinn a kiss, "I knew I'd wear her down eventually."

This made Quinn sigh. "Always the charmer, Noah."

"Can I still be the flower girl?" Beth piped up.

"Of course you can, Bee."

Puck bounced her on his lap much to her amusement. "You'll be the best little flower girl in the whole world." He leaned towards her. "Now give Big Daddy a kiss," she did as he requested.

"Can I give you my presents now?" Beth asked him.

"You sure can." Beth hopped off his lap and grabbed his arm to lead him toward her room. "I guess I'll be right back."

"So," Rachel scooted towards Quinn once they were gone, "what did you say that Christmas you were pregnant with Beth? You promised you wouldn't fall in love with him. And then you recently said something about you _not_ marrying him when he came back."

Quinn scoffed, "Please. I knew I was going to marry him since I was thirteen years old."

"You really don't like being wrong do you?"

Quinn turned to Rachel with a smug look on her face. "I wouldn't know what it's like to be wrong."

Rachel growled in playful annoyance at her friend. "God help your little girl if she's as stubborn as you are."

"I hope she is, Rachel," she craned her neck towards Beth's room. "I really hope she is."

…

 _September, 2019_

Quinn Fabray married Noah Puckerman on the last day of August. They figured it was their also last night at the beach house and they were probably going to have a going away party anyway. It wasn't really much of a wedding. She wore a simple summer dress, he wore his Air Force uniform, they said 'I Dos' (Puck wasn't one for cheesy vows), exchanged rings, signed a marriage license, and sealed the arrangement with a kiss. And when they came home the following day, Puck carried his new bride over the threshold.

Of course, Rachel was there too. Quinn wasn't able to go to the airport when it was time for Rachel to leave, so Rachel helped get Quinn home and said goodbye shortly after.

"Hey," Quinn stopped her before she headed out the door. "I know I've missed a few opening nights before, but I don't want to miss your next one. Save us a seat okay."

Rachel blinked in surprise. "You're coming to see my show?"

Quinn passed her a worn out piece of paper. "It's pretty high up on my bucket list."

" _Go to New York to see a Rachel Berry show_ ," Rachel read aloud before passing the Bucket List back to Quinn. "Are you sure? Can you even-"

"I have been feeling better. I thought I'd take in an authentic Broadway show while I still can."

"I thought you couldn't fly."

"My husband's gonna drive us." Quinn couldn't help but smile. "It feels so weird to say that; especially in regards to Puck."

"I dunno, it seems kinda natural when you say it."

"Okay, you were right, Puck and I ended up together. Don't you have a plane to catch?"

"Pushy, aren't we?"

"Seriously, you really should get going if you want to make your flight."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Aren't I always?"

"Ha, ha," Rachel picked one of her suitcases. "I guess next time I see you, it'll be in New York."

"Save us a front row seat, okay?"

"I promise," she hugged her best friend. "Love you."

"I love you too, Rachel."

…

"Hey!" a little over two weeks later, Puck returned home after dropping Beth off at school. "Q?" He went to their bedroom. She had obviously come out of the shower and was sitting on the bed trying to catch her breath. "You alright?"

She nodded. "I just need a second to catch my breath before I start to pack for New York."

"This New York thing," he sat next to her on the bed, "we don't _have_ to go."

"Yes, we do. I told my best friend a long time ago that I would sit front row one of her opening nights. This is my last chance to do so and I'm going. You can't say or do anything to make me change my mind."

"You can be real stubborn, you know that?"

"Yeah, but you love me."

"Damn right I do," they shared a small laugh before sharing a kiss. "I guess we better get this over with if we want to leave before dark. Don't bother packing: I'll do it for us. You just gotta tell me what you need and hope to hell I can cram it all in there."

"Could you go get my brown carry-on bag from the hall closet?"

"Are you sure that's where you left it?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Quinn managed to breathe out.

"Again, stubborn," he got up to fetch the bag. Opening the hall closet, he was quick to discover it wasn't there. "Frickin' knew it wasn't there," as he closed the closet, he heard a thud coming from the bedroom. "Quinn?" When he got back to the bedroom, the first thing he saw was an unconscious Quinn lying on the floor beside the bed. "Shit!" he hurried over to her. "Quinn?" He tried to get her to respond, but she wouldn't. "Q?" Puck was also trying his damndest not to lose it. "Come on Babe, you gotta get up." As fast as he could, he reached for his cell phone and dialed 911. "Yeah, my wife she's unconscious, she's not breathing. I don't know what to do, you gotta hurry, please"

…

"Remind me again why we have this on DVR?" Kurt asked his boyfriend as they indulged in another _Real Housewives of Reno_.

"Because you love trashy TV," Blaine answered back as he fed him some popcorn.

"I really do. God, you get me." Kurt's phone began to ring. "Ugh, so much for no one bothering us on our day off," he looked at the caller ID. "Mercedes again." He answered the phone. "Hi 'Cedes...what…Mercedes! Mercedes, slow down I can't understand you. What's going on?" He listened as Mercedes informed him. "No!" Blaine noticed Kurt's expression. "Okay, I'll try to get a hold of her. We'll meet you at the hospital," Kurt hung up. "Blaine we have to go."

"Why, what's wrong?"

"It's Quinn," he let out a ragged breath. "Blaine, it doesn't look good. Mercedes thinks this might be it."

"I'll start the car."

"I'll call Rachel."

"If you can't get her on her cell, try the number of the theatre," Blaine suggested as he went out the door.

"Yes, yes, good idea. The state of mind I'm in I wouldn't have thought of that." Kurt decided to call the theatre first. "Yes, hello, my name is Kurt Hummel and I need to speak to Rachel Berry...when she has a minute, can you tell her to call my cell. It's an emergency…Thank you," Kurt impatiently fidgeted as he waited for what seemed like an eternity for Rachel to call.

Eventually, Rachel did call back. " _Kurt, is everything okay_?"

"You need to get to Lima _now_."

 _"Why? What's going on?"_

"This is it."

Kurt could hear Rachel's breathing become shaky. " _Are you sure? How long ago_ -"

"I don't know. Blaine and I are on our way to the hospital as we speak. I know this is the night before the show opens, but..." Kurt couldn't even finish. "Rachel: you need to get here before it's too late."

" _I'm on my way,"_ she hung up.

Kurt hung up his phone as he hurried out the door and into the car as it began to rain. "I got a hold of her."

"Oh damn, we forgot to get the umbrella. The rain's gonna get real bad later."

"Fuck it; let's just get to the hospital, now."

* * *

 **I told you we'd be touching back to the beginning of the story soon.**

 **For the record:** _ **Real Housewives of Reno**_ **is not a current show. It's just a reference to season 3 when Puck said to Skank Quinn, "You look like a Real Housewife of Reno". I figured some new incarnation of that stupid show would exist in 2019 anyway so it's a little throwaway joke.**


	13. Peace (2019)

**Unlucky 13, folks. Following this, there will only be 2 more chapters left (making it 15 total). So before we get to the last two, we have to get through this one.**

* * *

 _September, 2019_

Despite not being the best driver, Rachel pulled up to the hospital's emergency entrance after many non-stop hours on the road and ran for the door.

"Whoa," someone on the hospital security staff stopped her, "you can't park your car there."

"Sir," Rachel was doing her best to remain calm, "I have to get in there. I just drove non-stop from New York to-"

"I don't care if you drove from Mars. You can't park there."

Rachel dug through her purse. "I will give you," she took out whatever petty cash was on her, "five hundred dollars and," she took out some change, "twenty-two cents to take care of that problem for me."

"It goes against regulations."

"Sir, my best friend in the whole world is dying. She's a twenty-five year old teacher who just got married, she has the most adorable little girl in the whole world, and she's dying because of some fatal heart disease. Time's been cruel to her and I don't want to waste whatever time she has left to worry about where I'm going to park my car."

The security guard sympathized with her. "Keep your money and go be with your friend."

Rachel hugged him and ran inside the hospital. Stopping to catch her breath at the front desk, she asked where Quinn Fabray was. "Actually, it may be under 'Puckerman'."

"Nope, Quinn Fabray right here," the front desk clerk gave Rachel the information and Rachel put it to good use. When she got off the elevator of the designated floor, she noticed all of her friends in the nearby waiting room. "Guys!"

"Rachel!" Mercedes was the first to get up and hug her. "I'm so glad you're safe."

"Thank you," she hugged Kurt next. "I'm not too late, am I?"

"Last we've been told she's still alive, but barely," Kurt informed her.

"I think she's waiting for you," Mercedes added. "We'd go with you if we could but they're only allowing family back there."

"I'll see what I can do," Rachel made her way down the hall to the nurse's station. "I'm Rachel Berry and I'm here to see Quinn Fabray."

"Are you family?" the nurse asked.

"I'm her best friend."

"I'm sorry, but we're only allowing family only."

"Can you make some sort of exception? I mean I'm _like_ family."

"I'm sorry Miss Berry, but-"

"It's cool," Rachel was surprised, but grateful to see a defeated looking Puck make his way over to them, "she's family."

The nurse sighed as she pointed to Puck. "Follow him."

"Come on," Puck motioned for Rachel to follow.

"Thank you," Rachel thanked.

"They told me you were drivin' up here last time I talked to everyone."

"It was storming earlier and I couldn't fly out."

"Is it still raining?"

"No."

"I guess that's good."

Rachel broke the awkward silence by asking, "Where's Beth?"

"She's with my mom."

"What about Quinn's mom?"

"She's visiting some relatives out of state, but she's on her way back to Ohio."

"So they know what's going on?"

"Judy knows, and I think a part of Beth does too. I had my mom tell her Quinn got sick again and had to come to the hospital but…" he couldn't even finish.

"Is this really it for her, Puck?" All Puck could do was look away and nod. "Can I see her?" He led her to the room Quinn was in. When Rachel saw her best friend laying in the hospital bed as pale as a ghost and hooked up to machines, she had to compose herself to refrain from losing it. "Quinn?" Rachel tentatively shuffled toward her best friend.

Quinn fought to keep her eyes open. "Hey," her hoarse voice barely rose above a whisper. "You made it."

"I'm here, Quinn," Rachel took Quinn's hand in hers.

"I…don't…" she couldn't even talk, "want to…die…"

"Quinn, I-"

"…here."

"You don't want to die _here_?"

Quinn shook her head no. "I'm…okay…with it…but…not here." She had accepted her own mortality, but wouldn't accept the location and for whatever reason, that got Rachel to smile. "Not here."

Rachel brushed back the hair flying all over Quinn's face. "I think I know where you want to go." She planted a small kiss on Quinn's forehead. "I'll be right back."

Puck was considerate enough to wait right outside the room so that Rachel could have her moment with Quinn alone. "That didn't take too long," he noted.

"Quinn has come to terms with dying, and she's ready to go." As Puck raced into the room, Rachel stopped him, "but not here."

"What?"

"You and I both know how stubborn she is. This is something she wants to do, but she doesn't want to do it here." Puck still didn't understand. "She wants to die at the beach house, Puck."

"And she told you this?"

"She didn't have to."

"I want to hear it from her."

"She can barely talk!"

"This is something I need to hear from my wife, alright?"

Rachel nodded. "Alright." She moved aside so Puck could go in.

"Q?" he sat on the bed and took her hand.

"I'm…scared," she managed to say.

"I know, Babe; but I'm here for you."

"If this…is…going…to happen…I want…"

"Rachel told me you want to go to the beach house." Quinn nodded. "Are you _sure_ that's what you want?"

"I'm…sure."

He gave her a kiss before he got up. "I'll go talk to the doctor."

"Beth!" that made him turn back around. "I…have to…tell…Beth…good…bye."

"You want me to have my mom bring her over?"

"I don't…want her…to…see me… _here_."

"I'll get her," Rachel spoke up. "Give me the address and I'll pick her up, get her something to eat, and we'll meet you at the beach house. I'll make sure to tell everyone else what's going on before I go in case they want to come say their goodbyes."

"No! Just…Beth."

Rachel nodded. "Just Beth."

"I'll be right back," Puck gave Quinn another kiss and he and Rachel went to the nurse's station. "I…" he cleared his throat, "…I want to talk the doctor about getting my wife released."

The nurse was dumbfounded by this. "Do you know how sick she is?"

"Yes, and so does she."

"Mr. Puckerman-"

"I really don't want to argue about this. That woman in there, my _wife_ , is dying and we all know it. She wants to go in peace, and she wants to do it where she's most peaceful. She doesn't want her final moments with her daughter, _our_ daughter, here at some hospital where it could scare my kid off hospitals for the rest of her motherless life. So if it's not too much of an inconvenience for you, can I talk to the doctor please?"

"I'll page him right away."

"And if it's not too much trouble, can you let our friends back here so they can say goodbye?"

"Yes, Sir."

Puck faced Rachel. "When you go out there: tell them if they wanna say goodbye, they gotta do it now. They should have enough time before the doctor gets here."

"Okay," Rachel agreed. "And Puck," Puck made eye contact with her, "I've never seen anything so badass than what you just did." That got a small smile out of him. "I'll see you at the beach house," with that Rachel went to the waiting room where all of their friends were amassed and anticipating updates. "We're taking her to the beach house."

Naturally, everyone was confused by this. But Kurt was the only one who was vocal about it. "Wha-what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that she wants to die at the beach house. She's made peace with what's happening and she wants to go where she's most peaceful. If you want to say your goodbyes, you gotta do it now."

"Why can't we go to the beach house with her?" Mercedes questioned.

"It's what she wants. She's so weak and pale and she can barely talk that I can't deny her what she wants on her deathbed. You're getting your chance to say goodbye, so I'd take it."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to bring Beth to the beach house. Quinn wants her last goodbye to be to her daughter, and she doesn't want it to be here at the hospital. So now you guys are allowed back there if you want to say goodbye to Quinn." Everyone started getting up and heading for Quinn's room.

Mercedes stayed behind to say goodbye to Rachel. "So it's really happening?"

"It's really happening."

"You're goin' to be there when she…"

"I'm going to be at the house, yes, but I don't know if I'll actually be in the room she's in when she goes. I don't think I want to be." Rachel began to cry. "I thought the hardest thing I would ever have to do was bury my husband, but this…" she trailed off unable to finish, so Mercedes pulled her in for a hug. "I don't think I can handle seeing someone I love die," Rachel pulled away and wiped some tears from her eyes. "The least I can do is be nearby when she goes. I know she waited for me, so in a way, I can wait for her."

…

"How come you're not talking so much?" Beth questioned Rachel at some point in their drive "You like to talk."

"I'm just really tired Beth," Rachel soon regretted that choice of words as Beth got a funny look on her face. "No! I just meant I haven't really slept yet. Not like _sick_ tired."

"Like Mommy?"

"You know something, Beth," Rachel was clearly about to veer onto a new topic, "you're a real smart little girl."

"I know."

Rachel couldn't help but smile at the sassy six year old. "Did I tell you that I'm really happy to see you?"

"I'm happy to see you too, Rachel."

"How about we listen to some music for the rest of the drive?"

"Where are we driving to?"

"We're going to the beach house."

"Isn't it closed now that school's back?"

"The beach house never closes, Beth. I'll put on some Disney songs," she put that same CD from her earlier drive back in for what seemed like the thousandth time. When that CD ended, she played it again. It would have probably gone for a third time if they hadn't reached their destination. "We're here," she announced when she pulled in.

In the backseat, Beth excitedly unbuckled and tried to open the door. "It's locked."

"I really want us to walk up to the house together. I was going to open your door and I thought I'd walk you to the house."

"Why?"

"No reason, just try something different."

"You're weird sometimes."

Rachel chuckled. "Thanks Beth," she got out of the car and opened the back door. When she held out her hand, the little blonde took it and together they walked to the front door.

Beth was a bit confused when Rachel knocked. "How come you're knocking? Why can't we just go in?"

"Because we're meeting someone here."

When Puck opened the door, Beth gave him a great big hug. "Hey Monkeyface," he greeted. He looked up at Rachel. "Thanks for knocking." She acknowledged that with a nod. "I made you some coffee; figured you'd need it." He let the girls inside.

"How come Rachel had to knock?" the curious child inquired.

"I guess she did in case Mommy was sleeping."

Beth gasped in excitement. "Mommy's here?"

"Yeah, Beth, Mommy's here."

"Is she sleeping?"

"She's actually waiting to see you."

"She is?"

"Mommy has something real important she wants to talk to you about."

"She does?"

"It's so important that she wanted to look really pretty for you that she did her hair and makeup." Beth 'oohed' at this. "She's in her room, but go knock before you see her." Beth ran toward the downstairs room.

"Quinn did her hair and makeup?" Rachel asked from her seat at the kitchen table.

Puck gave a casual shrug. "I did it for her."

"You?"

"You saw how she looked in the hospital. She and I both didn't want Beth to see her like that."

"When did you guys get here?"

"We got medical transport here a couple hours ago. I hope that explains why you don't see my car."

"It does." She watched as Puck got a can of _Mountain Dew_ from the fridge. "You're not going to be in there when she talks to her?"

"Q wants to be alone with her. I want to be in there, believe me, but I'm not." He took a deep breath and sat across from Rachel. "Beth's probably gonna have a lot of questions when they're done and I just pray to whatever God is up there that I have the answers."

"Can _I_ ask you a question?" He silently prompted for her to continue. "At the hospital when I asked to see her, Quinn was listed as 'Quinn Fabray'."

"So?"

"Why wasn't she listed under 'Quinn Puckerman'?"

"Because 'Quinn Fabray' sounds a hell of a lot more awesome than 'Quinn Puckerman'. I think I was the one who begged her to keep her last name. Come on: it's like me asking how come you were never 'Rachel Hudson'?"

"Rachel Hudson does sound pretty cool; but Finn and I weren't even married a month when-"

"I'm lucky I even got a few weeks to be married to Quinn. The only difference is you and Finn, you both went in knowing it was gonna last longer than it actually did. You didn't marry him because you knew he was gonna die soon."

"None of us did."

"None of us knew about this fucking heart virus thing either."

"But at least we had time to say goodbye."

"I would rather have her die like Finn. Quick, instant, painless, no suffering, no having to wonder whether you're gonna live through the night, or how everyone you love is going to go on without you," he paused, "not having to explain to a six year old that you're not going to be around to see her grow up." One hand immediately rose to cover his face while the other one balled into a fist and pounded the table. If he was trying to hide his emotions, he wasn't doing a good job.

"If she did go instantly, you probably wouldn't have married her." A few sobs escaped him. "I should probably-"

"How'd you do it, Rachel? How did you go on after you lost the love of your life?"

"The same way you went on after you lost your best friend," he uncovered his face and looked at her. "You were the person I felt sorry for the most when we lost Finn because you knew him better than any wife could ever know her husband. A longtime friendship cut short in the blink of an eye. Tell me Puck: how did _you_ go on after that?"

"Beth," he quietly answered. "Yeah, I wanted to end my life after he died—everyone feels like that after they lose someone they love—but Beth was my reason to keep going. I figured I wasn't going to be with Quinn and that she didn't love me, but I knew that if I stepped up and became the man my father never was, my kid would always love me. She wasn't even born then and I loved her more than anything else in the world. Six years later, it's the same feeling."

"It certainly is a lot less selfish than my answer. I mean, yeah, I wanted to meet my best friend's baby, but it was my career that kept me going. I guess that was my Beth. I loved what I did, I grew as a person because of it, and it kept me going. It got me where I am today."

"You still have that."

"And you still have Beth. If we can name one thing worth living for no matter how insignificant or selfish it may seem, then that's enough to keep us going."

"Yeah, but don't be surprised if I come knocking at your door late at night asking you to tell me things I didn't know about my wife."

"I'll make time for you if you ever need to do that."

"I guess Quinn and I are lucky to have a friend like you."

Rachel bit her lip, pushed the mug of coffee aside, and stood up. "I think I'm gonna turn in early. It's been a long day and I haven't really slept." Puck just nodded to her. "I'll see you later, Puck."

"See you later, Rachel."

…

Rachel woke up fairly early the next morning not expecting anyone else to be awake. So she was a little surprised to see Puck in the kitchen nursing a cup of coffee. "Puck?" He turned to face her. "You okay?"

"I couldn't sleep," he admitted. "I thought I'd get up and make some waffles or something."

"Is Quinn-"

"She's still alive last I checked. She couldn't sleep either she spent the whole night gasping for air and letting out these cries of pain. I didn't want to leave, but she said it was okay if I did. Then she told me that she always loved me in this cryptic kinda way. Like she knows she's about to go and she wants to spare me from bein' there."

"Do you mind if I-"

"Go ahead."

Rachel slowly made her way into the bedroom. Unlike what Puck described, Rachel didn't hear anything. "Quinn?" She went to the side of the bed where she could see her friend. "Quinn?" she gave Quinn a gentle shake. As a result of that, Quinn opened her eyes. "Hi."

"Hi," Quinn weakly breathed back. She then patted the bed as a sign for Rachel to join her on it.

"Um, okay," Rachel sat on the bed next to Quinn. "I heard you didn't get any sleep last night." Quinn patted the bed again. "Do you want me to lay down or something?" A nod. "Um…I guess," Rachel laid on her side and faced Quinn.

Using what strength she had, Quinn took the cross necklace she always wore around her neck, and put it around Rachel's. "So you'll…always have…a piece…of me."

Rachel tried not to cry. "It's not like I'm ever going to forget you."

Quinn gave Rachel a kiss on the cheek. "I love you Rachel," she managed to say in one breath.

Rachel brushed some flyaway hair from Quinn's face. "I love you too, Quinn."

With that, Quinn smiled at her best friend, closed her eyes, and took her last, peaceful breath.

Rachel knew she was going to cry when Quinn died. But among the tears of sorrow, there were these sort of tears of joy. Her best friend was at peace and Rachel considered herself lucky to be there the moment Quinn reached it. It was as if Quinn knew Rachel was strong enough to handle it and that's why she wanted her final moments to be with her longtime friend.

Rachel got out of the bed and very slowly made her way into the kitchen. "Puck."

Puck turned and looked at her. When he did, he knew what she was going to say. "No," but he didn't want to believe it. He hurried into the bedroom. "NO!" Rachel shuddered when she heard him kick something (probably a piece of furniture).

It was shortly after he began to sob loudly that she hurried out onto the deck and proceeded to weep. She stood out on the deck in the autumn air just weeping for a few minutes before composing herself to go inside. When Rachel went to shut the bedroom door, she noticed Puck lying on the bed holding onto Quinn similar to the first night she found them in bed together. Only this time, he was crying instead of smiling. This wasn't something Beth needed to see in case she woke up so Rachel closed the door to give Puck some privacy to mourn. Sitting on the couch, she took her phone out of her pocket and called one of the recent numbers.

" _Hello_?" Mercedes answered the phone.

"Hey, it's me."

" _Rachel_?"

"So…Quinn passed away this morning—a few minutes ago actually—I wanted you to be the first person I called. I was hoping you could tell our friends for me."

" _Oh my God_ ," Rachel could tell Mercedes was about to lose it.

"I was there, Mercedes," Rachel confessed. "I was there when she went."

" _I'm so sorry, Rachel_."

"No, it was…it was therapeutic actually; to see her be at peace like that." Rachel looked up towards the heavens. "I truly consider myself lucky to have been there for her."

" _I know I shouldn't correct your grammar, but don't you mean_ with _her_?"

"No: I meant it exactly how I said it."

* * *

 **Yee-ah, so that happened.**

 **I know, I know we didn't actually see Hillary die in the movie. If I'm being honest, the death scene is more reminiscent of the Drew Barrymore/Toni Collette movie** _ **Miss You Already**_ **—accidental spoilers for that movie, sorry. I can't exactly play '** _ **Wind Beneath My Wings'**_ **in a fanfiction and fade from a beach to a cemetery. I just knew I wanted Rachel to be the only one in the room when it happened "kinda like in that movie** _ **Miss You Already**_ **" (btw, that's also a good female friendship movie). So please try not to hate me too much for doing something that we established had to be done.**


	14. What's Best (2019)

**We've reached the penultimate chapter. What that means to you guys is we have one last plot point before an epilogue.**

 **So let's get right to it…**

* * *

 _September, 2019_

"Rachel," Rachel ignored the voice calling to her. Dressed in all black, she stood in front of her best friend's grave as everyone began to leave. "Rachel," Kurt tapped her on the shoulder, "come on, everyone's leaving."

"I just need another minute," Rachel spoke in a low voice.

With a sigh, he turned to the person beside him. "Should we just…"

Mercedes nodded before giving Rachel a hug from the side. "We won't be too far if you need us."

"Thank you," Rachel choked up a little as she spoke. Without saying anything else, Kurt and Mercedes walked away and left Rachel where she stood. Rachel took a deep, ragged breath, reached for her purse, pulled out the framed photo strips of her and Quinn at Coney Island from fifteen years ago, and set it there. And for the first time that day, she wept. Throughout the whole service, she didn't cry. Puck didn't either. It was like they were both trying to be strong to show everyone that everything would be okay. Or maybe they weren't crying for Beth's sake. Whatever the reason, now Rachel could cry.

"So you finally broke down, huh?" Puck's voice startled her. "Personally, I'd do it someplace more private."

"I thought you left with Beth."

"I asked Judy to take her for a while. Give us a little more time to grieve, you know." There was a tensed pause in the conversation. "Rachel, you and I need to talk." She faced him. "Not here; I'd rather we talk at the house."

"Why?"

"Because if we're going to have a real, adult discussion; I'd rather do it somewhere we can sit down."

"What's there to discuss? The only things you and I have in common—besides our religion—is the fact that we lost both our best friends and the loves of our lives. Puck, if there are things you need to know about Quinn that only I can tell you-"

"We need to talk about Beth," that silenced Rachel. "So if you could meet me back at the house later, that'd be great," as he began to walk away, he stopped and turned around. "I've known Quinn just as long as you have and I doubt there's anything you can tell me that I don't already know." Rachel said nothing. "I'll see you later, Rachel," with that, he left.

...

He answered Rachel's familiar knock on the front door about an hour later. She held up a fast food bag. "I bought milkshakes and curly fries," those were Quinn's idea of comfort food. "I thought we'd see why the heck Quinn loved dipping the fries into the milkshake."

"I think she got the idea from something stupid Finn and I did," Puck admitted. "Back in middle school, me and a couple of guys I used to know did these dumb dares where we mixed together odd food combinations and ate 'em. It was mostly fries because the crappy cafeteria always had a lot of fries. Finn was the one who dipped the fry in the milkshake, said he liked it, and I guess she tried it and liked it too."

"I would have guessed she ate it because of an odd pregnancy craving. I didn't know there were still some things to learn about my best friend."

" _Late_ best friend."

Rachel shook her head. "Dead or alive, Quinn is always going to be my best friend." She dipped a fry into her milkshake and made a disgusted face.

"That bad?"

"It's an acquired taste."

Puck dipped one into his milkshake. "Not bad," was his verdict before he did it again.

"So what do we-"

"Can't talk now," he shoved some fries into his mouth, "eating."

"Charming," Rachel noted with disgust when he talked with his mouth full..

He swallowed before continuing. "I haven't eaten in a few days, Berry; I think some food would do us some good before we get to talkin'. Puck continued to eat.

Wordlessly, Rachel also began to eat. She couldn't help but feel like Puck was trying to avoid whatever he wanted to talk to her about. And when he finished eating, he quickly got up from the table. "Wha-where are you going?" Rachel got no response and debated whether or not she should follow him. When she decided she should, that's when he came back with some manila envelopes. "What are those?"

"Legal documents and shit; Quinn made a will," he took something from the envelope and slid it to Rachel. "That's for you; I'm not supposed to read it." It was a letter with Rachel's name written on the front in Quinn's delicate cursive handwriting. "You're not supposed to read it until after we talk—she wanted you to be alone when you opened it."

"Did you get one too?"

Puck nodded. "Basic goodbye letter explaining what she wants to happen after she's gone that also describes what she loves about me; so yours is probably the same thing except the girl version."

"Is this why you brought me here?"

"Quinn made a will," he reminded. "You're her best friend; you're bound to get something."

"What like her clothes or her makeup?"

"Or her daughter."

This took Rachel by surprise. "Quinn left me _Beth_?"

"Not just you, both of us—like a joint custody thing."

"What? No! No. Beth is _your_ daughter and-"

"I have to go back to the Air Force. Someone needs to take care of her while I'm gone."

"And Quinn wants _me_ to take care of Beth? Did she tell you why?"

"She didn't have to…and she probably told you in her letter."

"You're fine with this arrangement?" He nodded. "What about when you're not on duty or whatever? I live in New York, you live in Ohio."

Puck casually shrugged. "My life was in Ohio, yes. Now that she's not…" he couldn't finish that statement, "Beth is my life now and it doesn't matter where she is. I'm willing to move to New York if that's what it takes." He stood up to leave. "And yes, Quinn did leave you her clothes and her makeup; what the hell was I gonna to do with that stuff anyway?" He walked out of the room leaving a bewildered Rachel alone.

 _Quinn wants me to have Beth?_ Rachel still couldn't believe it. "This doesn't make sense," she carefully tore open the envelope hoping Quinn's letter would help her see things clearly.

 _Rachel,_

 _Fifteen years of friendship and I can't put into words how wonderful, incredible, and important both you and your friendship have been to me. I could never ask for a better person to share in all of my special and most intimate moments. We've been there for each other through so much and I need you to be there for me now more than ever (despite the fact that I'm not actually gonna be there). You may be my best friend, Puck may be my husband, but Beth is the one true love/light of my life. And it hurts me so much that she's going to be able to grow up without with her mother. She's going to need me, and I can't be there for her and that thought is scarier than dying._

 _That's why I want you to raise Beth. It's not just because she needs a female figure to substitute for her dead mother—I know I'm going to be dead by the time you read this. Much like a certain beloved children's character, my little monkey is always curious. Beth is going to have lots of questions, especially about me, and you and Puck are the only ones I trust to answer them for her. It's not like I'm asking you keep my daughter from her father or to abandon your life in New York; I'm sure you guys will work something out. But I want the two of you to raise her together. And when her father has to go away again, I'd rather have her stay with you because you are family. I don't think I've ever asked you for anything this major, or this meaningful, and this is the last thing I will ever ask you._

 _And don't you dare say you can't do this or that you don't have what it takes to be a mother. You can, and you do. There's no one I trust more than you. But ultimately, this decision isn't mine to make: it's Beth's. If she doesn't want to live with you or if for whatever reason you can't take care of her, I understand…_

… _but I'd rather my daughter grow up with Rachel Berry in her life just like I did._

 _Beth is my legacy. She is the most important piece of my life that I leave behind and that is just one of many reasons why you_ _need to do this. For me. I know you're going to miss me. Beth will too. So wouldn't it be easier if you missed me together?_

 _I wish you all the best Rachel. You deserve every happiness. May your dreams continue to come true. I love you._

 _Love, Quinn_

Rachel set the letter down to ensure that her tears didn't spill onto it. She stole a few more moments alone before she went to get Puck. "Hey."

"You read it?" despite already knowing the answer, he still asked the question.

Rachel nodded. "Could you…" she cleared her throat, "…could you go get Beth? I really need to talk to her."

"Yeah."

"Can I go wait in your room?" He nodded. "Thank you," as if in a trance, Rachel made her way down the hall and into what was once her best friend's bedroom. The room looked like it hadn't been used in days—which, to be fair, it probably hadn't. She walked around closely inspecting every picture, going through the closet and carefully touching Quinn's clothes, browsing a bookshelf assorted with books and movies. Rachel did this until she sat at her friend's desk and opened Quinn's laptop to see the screensaver of a slightly younger Beth dressed like Princess Leia for Halloween with her father kneeling at her side dressed like Han Solo. Rachel hadn't seen that picture, but she did remember a conversation between her and Quinn.

" _Is it wrong to want my daughter to dress up like a princess for her first real Halloween party?" Quinn had asked her. "It's a party for three year olds; she's not supposed to dress as anything scary."_

" _Was it Puck's idea to do something scary?" Rachel had questioned back._

" _Scary or_ badass. _Then he made some remark how he's gonna make sure his daughter never looks like a slut in those 'demeaning Halloween costumes for ladies'."_

" _Aww."_

" _Yeah, yeah, you don't have to swoon every time I tell you about his 'protective father mode'."_

" _Which you think is sexy," Rachel sing-songed._

" _Do not! Shut up!"_

 _Rachel giggled. "Well what does Beth want to dress up as?"_

" _She's not sure and I'm sure Mommy and Daddy aren't giving her any good ideas."_

" _Did you take her costume shopping?"_

" _We're going to this weekend."_

" _Together."_

" _Puck and I can't ever seem to agree when it comes to what our daughter wears. What do you think we should do?"_

" _Me, personally? Try to find a compromise."_

" _Thanks for taking my side."_

" _Did you ever consider that Beth_ doesn't _want to be a princess?"_

 _Quinn fidgeted a little. "But she's so adorable as a princess."_

" _Quinn, she's always going to be_ your _princess; just let her explore other options."_

 _"I guess it wouldn't hurt to go with Puck's suggestion that she dress up like Leia from_ Star Wars _."_

 _"Leia is a princess."_

 _"It would give him an excuse to dress like Han Solo."_

 _"Shouldn't he dress like Darth Vader?"_

 _"I asked him that: he said Vader doesn't really set a good parenting example and that Han loves Leia, and Puck loves Beth."_

 _"Aww," Rachel swooned._

 _"I know the way he worded it sounds wrong, but I got the message."_

 _"You should totally go with that idea."_

 _Quinn contemplated this. "Fine! But I'm not admitting that I'm wrong, because I'm not; I'm never wrong."_

" _Okay Quinn. Look, I have to go; but we'll talk later?"_

" _Definitely."_

" _Love you Quinn."_

" _Love you Rachel."_

"Rachel," Rachel was brought back to reality by Beth's timid voice.

"Hi, Beth," Rachel closed the laptop and went over to hug Beth. "Can we have a little talk?"

Beth looked hurt. "Are you dying too?"

"What? No! No, I just want to talk to you."

"The last time Mommy talked to me was about what was gonna happen when she died."

"I promise I'm not dying, Beth," Rachel brushed some of Beth's flyaway hair back. "But I am going to New York."

"I know; you got to do your show."

"I was…" Rachel considered how to phrase the next part, "…I was hoping you'd come with me."

"To visit?"

"To live."

Beth gasped in surprise this time. "You want me to live in New York with you?"

"Yes I do; I'd like that very much."

"What about Daddy?"

"Your Daddy's willing to come live in New York too."

"Are we all gonna live together?"

"No, but I'll make sure he lives close by. It'll be just like before your Mom and Dad got married. That wasn't so bad was it?" Beth shook her head. "I know there's no replacing your Mom, and I won't be like a new mom either. I think we're better off if I stay your friend; as your Aunt Rachel. And I'm gonna be honest: I have no idea how to take care of kids. I'm not gonna lie: I can be selfish too. But I promise I'll take care of you. Do you want to come live in New York with me?"

"Can you come to live in Ohio?"

"No."

"Can you let me have a cat?"

Rachel laughed. "We'll see."

Beth's face fell a little "Mommy used to say that."

"I'm really gonna miss her too Beth. And I promise to keep her alive in our hearts and memories. We'll never forget her and I also promise to answer any questions you'll ever have about her."

"Mommy told me I could always ask you about her when she talked to me. She said you knew everything there was to know about her and you loved her most."

"Yeah, I did," Rachel paused. "So…do you wanna come live with me?"

Beth smiled. "I'd like that very much."

* * *

 **I wanted to get this uploaded before we took my sister back to Iowa (it's gonna be a long, internet-less drive). This took a little longer to finish so that I could work on other projects and because I had writer's block, but I promise it'll get it done.**

 **One more chapter to go.**


	15. Epilogue (2019)

**Welp, here we are. The last chapter. I'm going to warn you ahead of time, it's gonna be short.**

* * *

 _November, 2019_

"Is the movie really _that_ old?" Beth was in some denial that one of her "most favorite movies in the history of ever" was celebrating its thirtieth year.

"It may be old, but some things are timeless, Beth," was Rachel's response. "And thirty is not that old."

"You're only saying that 'cause you're not thirty."

"Neither are you."

"You're closest."

"Okay, yeah, you're right."

"Aren't I always?"

Rachel didn't respond right away. There were times when Beth acted so much like her mother that Rachel had to pause to remind herself that it wasn't Quinn. Besides looks, mother and daughter shared the affinity for always being right. "Sure Beth," Rachel finally responded.

Soon, she realized the car she and Beth were riding in had reached its destination. "We're here! We're here!" Beth wanted to hurry out of the car, but child-locks prevented her from doing so. But once her door opened, she sprinted out of the car. "Rachel, come on!"

Rachel followed. "Not yet, Beth."

The six year old let out a disappointed growl before angrily stomped toward Rachel. "It's not fair! How come I only get to spend a day at DisneyWorld?"

"Because Thanksgiving break doesn't last forever; you'll have to go back to school and I have to go back to my show. I promise we'll do some fun stuff after I'm finished rehearsing."

"How long are you gonna be rehearsing?"

"Let's go to rehearsal and find out."

"But you promise we get to spend all day at DisneyWorld tomorrow, right?"

"I promise."

"Can we make it two days?"

"You're lucky we even got _one_."

"Yeah, yeah." Rachel couldn't help but let out a small after Beth's little grumble. Beth may have inherited so many things from her mother, but that little display was very much Beth's father.

"Here we are," Rachel led Beth into a theatre and began searching for the show's director. "Hi, I'm here to rehearse."

"Rachel, hi, big fan," the director shook her hand. "Thanks again for agreeing to do our live thirtieth anniversary special."

"Well you can't really pass down the opportunity to sing a duet with the Little Mermaid herself."

"About that: Jodi will be running a little late, but she said to get started without her. So we were hoping you could rehearse the whole song? We need to check the timing and the technical aspects so-"

"Say no more, I'm happy to. Oh, is it okay if my Beth sticks around? My fiancée couldn't come with us, so I don't have anyone to watch her."

"Yes, it's fine."

"Thank you," Rachel lowered herself to Beth's level. "Have a seat somewhere where I can see you, alright?" Beth nodded. "Okay, I'm gonna go onstage now."

"Break a leg, Rachel," Beth wished her godmother luck.

"Oh," Rachel swooned a little, "look at you talking theatre talk," she hugged her before going onto the stage. She gave herself a moment to prepare. "Okay."

"Ready whenever you are," the director assured her.

"I'm ready." The music began to play. Rachel took a deep breath before she sang.

" _Look at this stuff, isn't it neat  
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete…"_

As she sang, Rachel looked out into the audience and saw a mesmerized Beth wearing the same smile on her face that Quinn wore fifteen years ago. Rachel swore for a moment she saw ten year old Quinn looking back at her. And Rachel swore she saw little Quinn again when she finished and Beth bounded from her seat and applauded the loudest.

Just like her mother.

Rachel took her bows before heading into the audience to give Beth a hug. "How'd I do?"

"You're the bestest singer I ever saw!" Beth complimented.

"So you liked it?"

"Yeah! Can we go ride Space Mountain now?"

Rachel laughed. "Sure Beth," she took her hand and they started walking away. "Actually, there is one thing I want to do first." She looked at a giant map of the park. "Looks like the nearest photo booth is here," she pointed on the map.

"Are they gonna be like the ones at the mall?"

"Probably."

"Mommy and I used to go in there and make funny faces. Can we make funny faces?"

"Of course."

"Can we get the Mickey ears with our names on them first?"

"Anything you want, Beth." They started to walk off. "Did anyone ever tell you the story of how your mom and I met?" Beth shrugged. "Can I tell you anyway?"

"Yeah; I like when you tell stories about my mom."

"So do I, Beth." Rachel agreed. "Okay so your mom and I were ten years old and at Coney Island in New York. I was hiding in a photo booth when I heard someone crying outside."

"Was it my mom?"

"Yep. She was lost and I was going to help her find her way back to her hotel, but first I had to go to my audition. And you know what?"

"What?"

"I sang the exact same song I just sang."

"Really?"

"But the ending was a little less happy because I lost my audition to Jesse St. James."

"Is that the same Jesse you're gonna marry?"

"Yes, but back then I really didn't like Jesse. He won, and I was upset. So your mom cheered me up and we've been best friends ever since."

"Friends forever."

Rachel choked up a little. "Yeah, Beth; forever friends."

"Don't you mean 'friends forever'?"

"No, Beth, I meant it how I said it."

 _"Be sure to keep in touch, Rachel, okay."_

 _"Well sure, we're friends aren't we?"_

* * *

 **And with that, I end this story. Thanks for sticking with me/it and I hope you liked it. Peace out!**


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